What happens if an applicant fails to respond to an Office action within the statutory period?

If an applicant fails to respond to an Office action within the statutory period, the application becomes abandoned. The MPEP 711.02 states:

“Abandonment may result from a situation where applicant has failed to take action during the statutory period for response set in the Office action having a shortened statutory period.”

This means that the application is no longer pending and will not be examined further unless revived.

To learn more:

• abandonment
• statutory period
• Office action
• patent application