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Code of Federal Regulations (Last Updated: May 6, 2024) |
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Title 37 - Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights |
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Chapter I - United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of Commerce |
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SubChapter A - General |
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Part 10 - [Reserved] |
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Investigations and Disciplinary Proceedings |
§ 10.132 - Initiating a disciplinary proceeding; reference to an administrative law judge.
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(a) If after conducting an investigation under § 10.131(a) the Director is of the opinion that a practitioner has violated a Disciplinary Rule, the Director shall, after complying where necessary with the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 558(c), call a meeting of the Committee on Discipline. The Committee on Discipline shall then determine as specified in § 10.4(b) whether a disciplinary proceeding shall be instituted under paragraph (b) of this section.
(b) If the Committee on Discipline determines that probable cause exists to believe that a practitioner has violated a Disciplinary Rule, the Director shall institute a disciplinary proceeding by filing a complaint under § 10.134. The complaint shall be filed in the Office of the Director. A disciplinary proceeding may result in:
(1) A reprimand, or
(2) Suspension or exclusion of a practitioner from practice before the Office.
(c) Upon the filing of a complaint under § 10.134, the Commissioner will refer the disciplinary proceeding to an administrative law judge.