What is the status of a new nonprovisional patent application?
A “new” nonprovisional patent application is one that has not yet received an action by the examiner. Its status as a “new” application continues until the examiner takes action, even if the applicant files an amendment prior to the first Office Action. A request for continued examination (RCE) under 37 CFR 1.114 is not considered…
Read MoreWhen is a patent application considered “amended”?
According to MPEP 203.03, a nonprovisional patent application is considered “amended” after it has been initially acted on by the examiner, and the applicant has filed a reply to the examiner’s action. The applicant’s reply may include: An election A traverse of the examiner’s action An amendment to the application
Read MoreWhat is the status of a patent application after a notice of allowance is mailed?
Once a nonprovisional patent application has been examined and determined to meet all statutory requirements, a notice of allowance is sent to the applicant. The status of the application is then considered “allowed” or “in issue”. As per MPEP 203.04: An “allowed” nonprovisional application or an application “in issue” is one which has been examined…
Read MoreWhen is a patent application considered ‘rejected’?
MPEP 203.02 defines a ‘rejected’ application as follows: A nonprovisional application which, during its prosecution in the examining group and before allowance, contains an unanswered examiner’s action is designated as a ‘rejected’ application. Its status as a ‘rejected’ application continues as such until acted upon by the applicant in reply to the examiner’s action (within…
Read MoreWhat is considered a ‘new’ application according to the MPEP?
According to MPEP 203.01, a ‘new’ application is defined as: A ‘new’ application is a nonprovisional application that has not yet received an action by the examiner. An amendment filed prior to the first Office Action does not alter the status of a ‘new’ application. It’s important to note that a request for continued examination…
Read MoreHow does an application become ‘amended’?
MPEP 203.03 defines an ‘amended’ application as: An ‘amended’ nonprovisional application is one that having been acted on by the examiner, has in turn been acted on by the applicant in reply to the examiner’s action. The applicant’s reply may be confined to an election, a traverse of the action taken by the examiner or…
Read MoreWhat does it mean for a patent application to be ‘allowed’ or ‘in issue’?
According to MPEP 203.04: An ‘allowed’ nonprovisional application or an application ‘in issue’ is one which has been examined and determined to meet all statutory requirements, and in which a notice of allowance has been sent to the applicant. Its status as an ‘allowed’ application continues from the date of the notice of allowance until…
Read MoreWhen is a patent application considered ‘abandoned’?
MPEP 203.05 outlines several scenarios where an application is considered abandoned: Formal abandonment by the applicant or attorney/agent of record Failure to take appropriate action at some stage in the prosecution of a nonprovisional application Failure to pay the issue fee For provisional applications, no later than 12 months after the filing date Abandonment removes…
Read MoreHow can a patent application become formally abandoned?
A patent application can become formally abandoned through an explicit action by the applicant or their representative. MPEP 203.05 states that an abandoned application includes one that is removed from the Office docket of pending applications: (A) through formal abandonment by the applicant or by the attorney or agent of record. This means the applicant…
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