What are the general guidelines for assigning nonprovisional design and plant applications for examination?

The general guidelines for assigning nonprovisional design and plant applications for examination include:

• Applications are assigned based on where they would have an original classification if the claims were in a patent.
• Claims and statement of invention are generally taken as they read, interpreted in light of the disclosure.
• The most indented subclass in the first subclass array is chosen for classification within a class.
• The location of U.S. patents constituting prior art is generally controlling.
• Applications are typically not assigned to a class that includes only one element of several claimed in combination.

The MPEP states: The assignment of nonprovisional design and plant applications follows, as far as possible, the rules or principles governing the classification of patents. Applications are generally assigned on the basis of where the application would have an original classification, if the claims it contains were in a patent. (MPEP 909.02(e))

To learn more:

• design patents
• plant patents
• patent application assignment
• patent classification
• examination guidelines