S-21
No. 11
PRACTICES CONCERNING "REFERRALS"
I.
In General.
A.
Definition. A "referral" is a case in which registration has been made and, thereafter, an apparent error or inconsistency is discovered which cannot be resolved without returning the case to the Examining Division or the Service Division for action.
B.
General Policy.
1.
as a rule, a case should be handled as a referral only under the following circumstances:
a.
When an essential item of information has been omitted entirely from the application.
b.
When the information given on the application is in such basic conflict with the information appearing on the copies (or, in the case of renewals, on our original records) that there is real doubt as to the identity of the claimant, author, or work in question.
c.
When the Copyright Office itself has made an error substantially affecting the registration.
d.
When the copies are so mutilated or incomplete as to be unacceptable for registration.
2.
As a rule, a case should not be handled as a referral when there is no real question as to the legal Validity of the registration, even if the examiner has failed to note a discrepancy, error, or minor omission that ma.y cause cataloging problems.
a.
In such cases, the catalogers should resolve, reflect, or overlook the variance, without referring the case to the Examining Division.
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