Prior to amendment of the Rules of Practice to add Part 3 to 37 CFR, it had been the practice of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) to process requests for "indexing" or "cross-referencing" additional patent numbers or application numbers against a document, other than an assignment, previously recorded in the Assignment Division, upon submission of a transmittal letter and recording fee. The Office no longer processes such indexing requests. Such requests do not comply with 37 CFR 3.11, 3.28, and 3.31, which require that each request for recordation include the document to be recorded and a cover sheet.

Therefore, even where a document has already been recorded in the Assignment Division in connection with a patent or patent application, a party that wishes recordation of that document with respect to additional patents and/or patent applications must submit the following to the Assignment Division:

1. (A) a copy of the original document (which may consist of the previously recorded papers on which the Assignment Division has stamped the reel and frame numbers at which they are recorded, or a copy of such papers);
2. (B) a completed cover sheet (see 37 CFR 3.31 and MPEP § 302.07); and
3. (C) the appropriate recording fee (see 37 CFR 1.21(h) and3.41 ).

The Office will assign a new recording date to that submission, update the assignment database, and microfilm the cover sheet and document, which shall become part of the official record.