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I am a little worried about the character and fitness portion of the PTO registration examination. In college, I received a few write-ups for alcohol and marijuana use (these occurred 7 years ago), and I got one open container for alcohol about 5 years ago. I have had no issues since then, but I am scared that my registration will be denied for failing C&F. Does anyone have any idea what will happen with my application?

I'm by no means a PTO C&F expert, but my understanding is that the PTO is primarily concerned with "conduct involving dishonesty, fraud,
misrepresentation, or deceit." They are also very concerned (for obvious reasons) with any violation of IP laws (patent, trademark, copyright). While you must disclose your alcohol/marijuana citations (I'm assuming these were citations?), I would be very surprised if you were ultimately denied registration on this basis (though it's very likely your registration will be delayed).

QContinuum wrote:I'm by no means a PTO C&F expert, but my understanding is that the PTO is primarily concerned with "conduct involving dishonesty, fraud,
misrepresentation, or deceit." They are also very concerned (for obvious reasons) with any violation of IP laws (patent, trademark, copyright). While you must disclose your alcohol/marijuana citations (I'm assuming these were citations?), I would be very surprised if you were ultimately denied registration on this basis (though it's very likely your registration will be delayed).

I received one open container from a police department (which is considered a violation, not a misdemeanor), and the remainder of the issues were violations of my university's rules and did not involve the police. I am a little worried because I passed the registration exam and then received a call about these issues a few days afterwards (I disclosed these issues on my application to take the registration examination).

Anonymous User wrote:

QContinuum wrote:I'm by no means a PTO C&F expert, but my understanding is that the PTO is primarily concerned with "conduct involving dishonesty, fraud,
misrepresentation, or deceit." They are also very concerned (for obvious reasons) with any violation of IP laws (patent, trademark, copyright). While you must disclose your alcohol/marijuana citations (I'm assuming these were citations?), I would be very surprised if you were ultimately denied registration on this basis (though it's very likely your registration will be delayed).

I received one open container from a police department (which is considered a violation, not a misdemeanor), and the remainder of the issues were violations of my university's rules and did not involve the police. I am a little worried because I passed the registration exam and then received a call about these issues a few days afterwards (I disclosed these issues on my application to take the registration examination).

So long as you're candid with the PTO, you should be fine, IMO. Again, not a PTO C&F expert, but I really can't see you being denied due to an open container citation. I imagine they just procedurally have to call everyone who discloses anything at all, regardless of severity.

Best of luck!

They're definitely going to want documentation of the open container law. In my experience, they're much more forgiving of college/law school infractions pertaining to drugs and alcohol than of criminal infractions. This isn't to say it will be a major issue, but you should have your court records ready to go.