Disciplinary sanctions; Transfer to disability inactive status.
37 C.F.R. § 11.20
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01(a) Types of discipline. The USPTO Director, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, and where grounds for discipline exist, may impose on a practitioner the following types of discipline:
(1) Exclusion from practice before the Office;
(2) Suspension from practice before the Office for an appropriate period of time;
(3) Reprimand or censure; or
(4) Probation. Probation may be imposed in lieu of or in addition to any other disciplinary sanction. The conditions of probation shall be stated in the order imposing probation. Violation of any condition of probation shall be cause for imposition of the disciplinary sanction. Imposition of the disciplinary sanction predicated upon violation of probation shall occur only after a notice to show cause why the disciplinary sanction should not be imposed is resolved adversely to the practitioner.
(b) Conditions imposed with discipline. When imposing discipline, the USPTO Director may condition reinstatement upon the practitioner making restitution, successfully completing a professional responsibility course or examination, or any other condition deemed appropriate under the circumstances.
(c) Transfer to disability inactive status. As set forth in § 11.29, the USPTO Director, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, may transfer a practitioner to disability inactive status where grounds exist to believe the practitioner has been transferred to disability inactive status in another jurisdiction, has been judicially declared incompetent, has been judicially ordered to be involuntarily committed after a hearing on the grounds of incompetency or disability, or has been placed by court order under guardianship or conservatorship.
Source: eCFRURL: https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2024-07-01/title-37.xmlFetched: 7/26/2026