503.06(f)    Petitions to Correct or "Expunge" Assignment Records

To correct an error in a recorded document, the owner of an application or registration should record corrective documents with the Assignment Recordation Branch, in accordance with the procedures outlined in TMEP §503.06 through §503.06(d).

If the Assignment Recordation Branch denies the request to correct the error, the owner may file a petition to the Director under 37 C.F.R. §2.146.  See TMEP Chapter 1700 regarding petitions.

However, petitions to correct, modify, or "expunge" assignment records are rarely granted.  Such petitions are granted only if the petitioner can prove that:  (1) the normal corrective procedures outlined in TMEP §503.06 through §503.06(d) will not provide the petitioner with adequate relief; and (2) the integrity of the assignment records will not be affected by granting the petition. For example, the Director may grant a petition to "expunge" the assignment records when an assignment is recorded properly with the Assignment Recordation Branch, but the underlying document contains confidential information. Such a petition will be granted only if the petitioner files for recordation with the Assignment Recordation Branch an identical assignment to the one that was previously recorded and which contained the confidential information (i.e., the new assignment identifies the same conveyance type, same assignee name, and same assignor name) but the underlying document supporting the newly filed assignment does not contain the confidential information. Because a new identical assignment has been filed and recorded, the integrity of the assignment records will not be affected and the assignment that contained the confidential information can be removed and the petition granted.

Even if a petition to "expunge" a document is granted with respect to a particular application or registration, the images of the recorded document remain in the records of the Assignment Recordation Branch.  The USPTO will delete the links to the application or registration that was the subject of the petition, so that no information about the recorded document will appear when someone searches for that application or registration number in the Assignment database.  However, the image of the document remains at the same reel and frame number, and it will still appear when that reel and frame number is viewed. Therefore, any petition that is filed should not identify the reel and frame number where the confidential information appears.