What does ‘serious search and/or examination burden’ mean in patent restriction requirements?
In the context of patent restriction requirements, a ‘serious search and/or examination burden’ refers to the significant additional effort an examiner would need to expend if multiple distinct inventions were examined together. According to MPEP 808, this is one of the two main aspects that must be addressed when requiring restriction:
“(B) the reasons why there would be a serious search and/or examination burden on the examiner if restriction is not required“
This burden typically involves:
- Searching different classes/subclasses
- Employing different search strategies or search queries
- Considering divergent subject matter
Examiners must provide specific reasons for this burden, not just state its existence, to justify the restriction requirement.
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