How does a CPA affect the examination process?

Filing a Continued Prosecution Application (CPA) has several effects on the examination process:

• The CPA is treated as a continuation of the prior application for examination purposes
• Information Disclosure Statements from the prior application are automatically considered in the CPA
• Affidavits and declarations from the prior application carry over to the CPA
• A terminal disclaimer filed in the parent application carries over to the CPA
• For examination priority, CPAs are treated as ‘amended’ applications rather than ‘new’ applications if an Office action was issued in the prior application

MPEP 201.06(d) notes: For examination priority purposes only, the USPTO will treat continuation CPAs as if they were ‘amended’ applications (as of the CPA filing date) and not as ‘new’ applications. This treatment is limited to CPAs in which the prior application has an Office action issued by the examiner.

For more information on design patents, visit: design patents.

For more information on patent prosecution, visit: patent prosecution.

For more information on USPTO procedures, visit: USPTO procedures.