What does it mean if a patent application has a status of “rejected”?
A nonprovisional patent application is designated as “rejected” if, during prosecution before allowance, it contains an examiner’s action that has not been replied to by the applicant. As stated in MPEP 203.02: A nonprovisional application which, during its prosecution in the examining group and before allowance, contains an unanswered examiner’s action is designated as a…
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 actions can an applicant take in response to an examiner’s action?
According to MPEP 203.03, an applicant has several options when responding to an examiner’s action: The applicant’s reply may be confined to an election, a traverse of the action taken by the examiner or may include an amendment of the application. These options can be broken down as follows: Election: Choosing between different inventions or…
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