Can status information be provided for unpublished patent applications?
In general, status information cannot be provided for unpublished patent applications, unless the requester is: The applicant A patent practitioner of record The assignee or an assignee of an undivided part interest The inventor or a joint inventor A registered attorney or agent named in the application papers Alternatively, a person with written authority from…
Read MoreWhat 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 MoreWhat 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 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 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 MoreWhat information is considered ‘status information’ for a patent application?
Status information of an application includes: Whether the application is pending, abandoned, or patented Whether the application has been published The application number or the serial number plus any one of the filing date of the national application, the international filing date, or the date of entry into the national stage Whether another application claims…
Read MoreWhat information can be provided about pending or abandoned applications?
For pending or abandoned applications that have not been published, the Office may only confirm that an application has been filed, provide the application number and filing date, the inventorship information, the classification, and the group art unit assigned to the application. This limited information is available to the public to help avoid infringement of…
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