What happens to continuation or divisional applications filed after a CPA in a design application?

What happens to continuation or divisional applications filed after a CPA in a design application?

Continuation or divisional applications filed after a Continued Prosecution Application (CPA) in a design application are treated differently than those filed after a CPA in a utility or plant application. According to MPEP 201.06(d):

Any continuation or divisional application filed under 37 CFR 1.53(b) after the filing of a CPA of a design application will be assigned a new application number and will reflect the filing date of the 37 CFR 1.53(b) application.

This means that unlike utility or plant applications, where a continuation or divisional application would get the benefit of the CPA’s filing date, in design applications, these subsequent applications are treated as new applications with their own filing dates.

For more information on continuation application, visit: continuation application.

For more information on CPA, visit: CPA.

For more information on Divisional application, visit: Divisional application.