ficer for his area will be authorized to draw on the Treasurer of the United States.

§ 92.71 Fees for letters rogatory exe

cuted by officials in the United States. Arrangements for the payment of fees should be made directly with the court in the United States by the party in the foreign country at whose request the depositions are taken, either through his legal representative in the United States or through the appropriate diplomatic or consular officer of his country in the United States. (See § 92.67 regarding the execution of letters rogatory in the United States.)

MISCELLANEOUS NOTARIAL SERVICES

§ 92.72

Services in connection with patents and patent applications.

(a) Affidavit of applicant. The form of the affidavit of an applicant for a United States patent depends on who is making the application, the type of invention, and the circumstances of the case. Officers of the Foreign Service are not responsible for the correctness of form of such affidavits, and should not endeavor to advise in their preparation. Persons who inquire at a Foreign Service post regarding the filing of patent applications may be referred to the pamphlet entitled "General Information Concerning Patents", if copies thereof are available at the post.

(b) Oath or affirmation of applicant— (1) Authority to administer oath or affirmation. When an applicant for a patent resides in a foreign country, his oath or affirmation may be made before any diplomatic or consular officer of the United States authorized to administer oaths, or before any officer having an official seal and authorized to administer oaths in the foreign country in which the applicant may be, whose authority shall be proved by certificate of a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States (35 U. S. C. 115). See paragraph (c) of this section regarding authentication of the authority of a foreign official. A notary or other official in a foreign country who is not authorized to administer oaths is not qualified to notarize an application for a United States patent.

(2) Form of oath or affirmation. See §§ 92.19 and 92.20 for usual forms of oaths and affirmations.

(3) Execution of jurat. In executing the jurat, the officer should carefully observe the following direction with regard to ribboning and sealing: When the oath is taken before an officer in a country foreign to the United States, all the application papers, except the drawings, must be attached together and a ribbon passed one or more times through all the sheets of the application, except the drawings, and the ends of said ribbon brought together under the seal before the latter is affixed and impressed, or each sheet must be impressed with the official seal of the officer before whom the oath is taken. If the papers as filed are not properly ribboned or each sheet impressed with the seal, the case will be accepted for examination but before it is allowed, duplicate papers, prepared in compliance with the foregoing sentence, must be filed. (Rule 66, Rules of Practice of the United States Patent Office.)

(c) Authentication of authority of foreign official-(1) Necessity for authentication. When the affidavit required in connection with a patent application has been sworn to or affirmed before an official in a foreign country other than a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States, an officer of the Foreign Service must authenticate the authority of the official administering the oath or affirmation (35 U. S. C. 115). If the officer of the Foreign Service cannot authenticate the authority of the official administering the oath or affirmation, the document should be authenticated by a superior foreign official, or by a series of superior foreign officials if necessary. The seal and signature of the foreign official who affixes the last foreign authentication to the document should then be authenticated by the officer of the Foreign Service.

(2) Use of permanent ink. All papers which will become a part of a patent application filed in the United States Patent Office must be legibly written or printed in permanent ink. (Rule 52, Rules of Practice of the United States Patent Office.) Consular certificates of authentication executed in connection with patent applications should preferably be prepared on a typewriter; they should not be prepared on a hectograph machine.

(d) Authority of foreign executor or administrator acting for deceased inventor. Legal representatives of de

ceased inventors and of those under legal incapacity may make application for patent upon compliance with the requirements and on the same terms and conditions applicable to the inventor (35 U. S. C. 117). The rules of the Patent Office require proof of the power or authority of the legal representative. See paragraph (c) of this section for procedure for authenticating the authority of a foreign official.

(e) Assignments of patents and applications for patents. An application for a patent, or a patent, or any interest therein, may be assigned in law by an instrument in writing. The applicant,

or the patentee, or his assigns or legal representatives, may grant and convey an exclusive right under the application for patent, or under the patent, to the whole or any specified part of the United States. Any such assignment, grant, or conveyance of any application for patent, or of any patent, may be acknowledged, in a foreign country, before "a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States or an officer authorized to administer oaths whose authority is proved by a certificate of a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States" (35 U. S. C. 261). See § 92.37 regarding authentication of the authority of a foreign official.

§ 92.73 Services

with

(f) Fees. The fee for administering an oath, taking an acknowledgment, or supplying an authentication, in connection with patent applications is as prescribed in item 49 of the Tariff of Fees, Foreign Service of the United States of America (§ 22.1 of this chapter). in connection trademark registrations. (a) Authority and responsibility. Acknowledgments and oaths required in connection with applications for registration of trademarks may be made, in a foreign country, before any diplomatic or consular officer of the United States or before any official authorized to administer caths in the foreign country whose authority must be proved by a certificate of a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States (15 U.S.C. 1061). The responsibility of officers of the Foreign Service in this connection is the same as that where notarial services in connection with patent applications are involved (see § 92.72 (a)). (See § 92.72 (c) regarding the authentication of the

authority of a foreign official who performs a notarial service in connection with a patent application.)

(b) Fees. The fee for administering an oath, taking an acknowledgment, or supplying an authentication, in connection with an application for registration of a trademark, or with the assignment or transfer of rights thereunder, is as prescribed in item 49 of the Tariff of Fees, Foreign Service of the United States of America (§ 22.1 of this chapter).

§ 92.74 Services in connection with United States securities or interests therein.

(a) Authority and responsibility. Assignments or requests for payment of United States securities, or securities for which the Treasury Department acts as transfer agent, or powers of attorney in connection therewith where authorized by the Treasury Department, should, in a foreign country, be executed before a United States consular or diplomatic officer. However, if they are executed before a foreign official having power to administer oaths, the Treasury Department requires that the official character and jurisdiction of the foreign official be certified by a United States diplomatic or consular officer. (See §§ 92.36 to 92.41 on authentications.)

(b) Fees. Officers of the Foreign Service should charge no fees for notarial services they perform in connection with the execution of documents, including the certification or authentication of documents where necessary, which affect United States securities or securities for which the Treasury Department acts as transfer agent, or which may be required in the collection of interest thereon. Items 58 (b) of the Tariff of Fees, Foreign Service of the United States of America (§ 22.1 of this chapter) applies in cases of this nature.

§ 92.75 Services in connection with in

come tax returns. (a) Responsibility. Officers of the Foreign Service are authorized to perform any and all notarial services which may be required in connection with the execution of Federal, state, territorial, municipal, or insular income tax returns. Officers should not give advice on the preparation of tax returns.

(a) Consular authority. The consular officer is authorized to have documents, or abstracts therefrom, copied at a Foreign Service post, if he deems it advisable and it is practicable to do so. This service frequently is necessary in connection with the performance of certain notarial acts, such as the certification of copies of documents.

(b) Fees. The charges for making copies of documents are as prescribed by the Tariff of Fees, Foreign Service of the United States of America (§ 22.1 of this chapter), under the caption "Copying and Recording", unless the service is performed for official use, which comes under the caption Exemption for Federal Agencies and Corporations of the same Tariff. § 92.77

Recording documents.

(a) Consular authority. Consular officers may, at their discretion, accept for recording in the Miscellaneous Record Book of the office concerned unofficial documents such as deeds, leases, agreements, wills, and so on. The object of this service is primarily to afford United States citizens and interests the means of preserving, in official custody, records of their business and other transactions where other suitable facilities are not available locally for making such records. The recording of unofficial documents is not a notarial service, strictly speaking; however, the certifying of copies of documents thus recorded is a notarial service.

(b) Recording procedure. Generally, before accepting a document for recording the consular officer should require satisfactory proof of its genuineness. The document should be copied, word for word, in the Miscellaneous Record Book. At the close of the record a statement that it is a true copy of the original should be entered and signed by the con

sular officer who copies or compares the record. In the margin of the first page where the document is recorded, the consular officer should note the following data:

(1) By whom the document is presented for recording;

(2) On whose behalf the service is requested;

(3) Date and hour of presentation for recording;

(4) How the authenticity of the document was proved (where appropriate); and

(5) The name of the person by whom recorded (in his proper signature) and the name of the consular officer with whom compared (in his proper signature).

11)

(c) Certificate of recording. Ordinarily, a certificate of recording need not be issued. The original document may simply be endorsed: "Recorded at (name and location of consular office) this day of 19__, in (here insert appropriate reference to volume of Miscellaneous Record Book)". Below the endorsement should appear the notation regarding the service number, the Tariff item number, and the amount of the fee collected. When a certificate of recording is requested, the consular officer may issue it, if he sees fit to do so. The certificate may be either entered on the document, if space permits, or appended to the document as a separate sheet in the manner prescribed in § 92.17.

(d) Fees. The fee for recording unofficial documents at a Foreign Service post is as prescribed under the caption "Copying and Recording" of the Tariff of Fees, Foreign Service of the United States of America (§ 22.1 of this chapter). For purposes of assessment of fees, the issuance of certificates of recording, when requested, shall be regarded as part of the consular service of recording unofficial documents, and no separate fee shall be charged for the certificate. § 92.78

Translating documents.

Officers of the Foreign Service are not authorized to translate documents or to certify to the correctness of translations. (However, see § 92.56 with regard to interpreting and translating services which may be performed in connection with depositions.) They are authorized to administer to a translator an oath as to

the correctness of a translation; to take an acknowledgment of the preparation of a translation; and to authenticate the seal and signature of a local official affixed to a translation. Separate fees should be charged for each of these services, as indicated under the caption "Notarial Services and Authentications" of the Tariff of Fees, Foreign Service of the United States of America (§ 22.1 of this chapter).

§ 92.79 Procuring copies of foreign public documents.

(a) Nature of services. When requested to do so by United States citizens or by persons acting in behalf of United States citizens, a consular officer should endeavor to obtain from foreign officials copies of birth, death, and marriage certificates, or copies of other public records, such as divorce decrees, probated wills, and so on. The interest of the party requesting the document should be clearly indicated, and there should be good reason for asking for the consular officer's assistance. Persons requesting documents for use in the preparation of family trees or in the compilation of genealogical studies should be referred to a local attorney or to a genealogical research bureau if one is available.

(b) Payment of expenses involved(1) Official funds not to be used. The use of official funds to pay for copies of or extracts from foreign public records obtained at the request of private persons is prohibited.

(2) Payment of costs by Federal Government. In instances of requests emanating from departments or agencies of the Federal Government for copies of or extracts from foreign public records, the Department will issue to Foreign Service posts concerned appropriate instructions with respect to the payment of whatever local costs may be entailed if the documents cannot be obtained gratis from the local authorities.

(3) Payment of costs by State or municipal governments. Should State, county, municipal or other authorities in the United States besides the Federal Government request the consular officer to obtain foreign documents, and express willingness to supply documents gratis in analogous circumstances, the consular officer may endeavor on that basis to

obtain the desired foreign documents gratis. Otherwise, such authorities should be informed that they must pay the charges of the foreign officials, as well as any fees which it may be necessary for the consular officer to collect under the provisions of the Tariff of Fees, Foreign Service of the United States of America (§ 22.1 of this chapter).

(4) Payment of costs by private persons. Before a consular officer endeavors to obtain a copy of a foreign public document in behalf of a private person, the person requesting the document should be required to make a deposit of funds in an amount sufficient to defray any charges which may be made by the foreign authorities, as well as the Foreign Service fee for authenticating the document, should authentication be desired. § 92.80 Obtaining American vital statistics records.

Individuals who inquire as to means of obtaining copies of or extracts from American birth, death, marriage, or divorce records may be advised generally to direct their inquiries to the Vital Statistics Office at the place where the record is kept, which is usually in the capital city of the State or Territory. Legal directories and other published works of references at the post may be of assistance in providing exact addresses, information about fees, etc. An inquirer who is not an American citizen may write directly to the diplomatic or appropriate consular representative of his own country for any needed assistance in obtaining a desired document.

§ 92.81

QUASI-LEGAL SERVICES

Performance of legal services.

(a) Legal services defined. The term "legal services" means services of the kind usually performed by attorneys for private persons and includes such acts as the drawing up of wills, powers of attorney, or other legal instruments.

(b) Performance usually prohibited— (1) General prohibition; exceptions. Officers of the Foreign Service should not perform legal services except when instructed to do so by the Secretary of State, or in cases of sudden emergency when the interests of the United States Government might be involved, or in cases in which no lawyer is available and refusal to perform the service would re

sult in the imposition of extreme hardship upon a United States citizen. There is no objection, however, to permitting persons to use the legal references in the Foreign Service office giving specimen forms of wills, powers of attorney, etc.

(2) Specific prohibitions and restrictions. See § 72.41 of this chapter for prohibition of performance of legal services by consular officers in connection with decedents' estates. See § 92.11 restricting the preparation for private parties of legal documents for signature and notarization.

(3) Acceptance of will for deposit prohibited. Wills shall not be accepted for safekeeping in the office safe. If a person desires to have his last will and testament made a matter of record in a Foreign Service establishment, the officer to whom application is made shall have the will copied in the Miscellaneous Record Book (§ 92.77) and charge the prescribed fee therefor.

(c) Refusal of requests. In refusing requests for the performance of legal services, an officer of the Foreign Service should cite these regulations and should state clearly his reasons for refusing to act. In appropriate cases, the officer may furnish the inquirer with a copy of the annual list of attorneys (see § 92.82) practicing in the consular district or he may refer the inquirer to the Department for a list of attorneys.

(d) Waiver of responsibility. When an officer of the Foreign Service accedes to a request for the performance of a legal service, he should inform the applicant that the service is performed at the latter's risk and without any responsibility on the part of the United States Government or the officer performing the service.

(e) Fees. No fee should be charged for any legal services which may be performed under these regulations, beyond the fees or charges for specific services enumerated in the Tariff of Fees, Foreign Service of the United States of America (§ 22.1 of this chapter).

§ 92.82 Recommending attorneys or notaries.

(a) Assistance in selecting American lawyers. When any person in the district of a Foreign Service post desires to have the name of an attorney in the United States, the officer at the post may refer him to American law direc

tories or other published references at his disposal, but he shall refrain from recommending any particular attorney.

(b) Assistance in selecting foreign attorneys or notaries. Persons applying to a Foreign Service post for services of a legal or fiduciary character or for assistance in selecting an attorney or notary capable of rendering the services in view, may be furnished the names of several attorneys or notaries in the district, or referred to the lists to be found in American or foreign law directories or other published references. Alternatively, they may be referred to bar associations or, where applicable, to the organization charged by local law with the responsibility for providing legal assist

ance.

(c) Agreements for referral of legal business prohibited. Officers of the Foreign Service shall not recommend particular attorneys or notaries to persons who apply to a Foreign Service post for legal assistance, nor shall they make agreements with attorneys or notaries for the referral to them of inquiries for legal assistance.

§ 92.84 Legal process defined.

Legal process means a writ, warrant, mandate, or other process issuing from a court of justice. The term includes subpoenas, citations, and complaints. § 92.85 Service of legal process usually prohibited.

The service of legal process is not normally a Foreign Service function. Except as specifically provided by Federal statute or regulation (see §§ 92.86 to 92.91), officers of the Foreign Service are prohibited from serving legal process or appointing other persons to do so. § 92.86

Consular responsibility for serving subpoenas.

Unless such action is prohibited by the law of the foreign country, officers of the Foreign Service are required to serve subpoenas issued by courts of the United States (i.e., by Federal courts) upon citizens or residents of the United States who have been personally notified in a foreign country to appear to give testimony in answer to letters rogatory issued from the said United States court and who have failed or neglected to do so, or who, having appeared, have refused to give testimony. Officers of the Foreign Service are also required, unless doing so would be con