What 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…
Read MoreWhat information can be obtained about a pending application under MPEP 102?
Under MPEP 102, limited information about a pending application can be obtained, including: Application number Filing date Whether the application has been published Whether the application has been assigned Power of attorney Name of the examiner to whom the application is assigned Status of the application (e.g., pending, abandoned, or issued) Group art unit number…
Read MoreHow can USPTO personnel determine the current location or status of an application?
USPTO personnel should use Patent Data Portal to determine the current location or status of an application. For Image File Wrapper (IFW) applications, no location is associated with the file. As stated in MPEP 102: When it is desired to determine the current location or status of an application, Office personnel should use Patent Data…
Read MoreCan failure to pay the issue fee result in an abandoned patent application?
Yes, failure to pay the issue fee can result in an abandoned patent application. MPEP 203.05 explicitly states that an abandoned application includes one removed from the Office docket for failure to pay the issue fee (MPEP § 711 to § 711.05). This means that even if an application has been approved for issuance, if…
Read MoreWhat happens to an application after it becomes abandoned?
After an application becomes abandoned, it is no longer pending and is removed from the USPTO’s active files. The application file, however, is retained in storage for a period as determined by the USPTO. During this retention period, certain actions may still be possible: 1. The applicant may file a petition to revive the application…
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