What is the duty of disclosure regarding copending United States patent applications?

Individuals covered by 37 CFR 1.56 have a duty to bring to the attention of the examiner information about other copending United States applications that are “material to patentability” of the application in question. This includes:

• Providing identification of pending or abandoned applications filed by at least one of the inventors
• Applications assigned to the same assignee that disclose similar subject matter
• Applications that are not otherwise identified in the current application

As stated in MPEP 2001.06(b): “[T]he applicant has the burden of presenting the examiner with a complete and accurate record to support the allowance of letters patent.”

To learn more:

• duty of disclosure
• copending applications
• material to patentability
• patent examination