Can a first Office action be made final after filing a Request for Continued Examination (RCE)?
Yes, a first Office action can be made final after filing a Request for Continued Examination (RCE) under certain conditions. According to MPEP 706.07(b):
“The claims of an application for which a request for continued examination (RCE) has been filed may be finally rejected in the action immediately subsequent to the filing of the RCE (with a submission and fee under 37 CFR 1.114) where all the claims in the application after the entry of the submission under 37 CFR 1.114 and any entered supplemental amendments (A) are either identical to or patentably indistinct from the claims in the application prior to the entry of the submission under 37 CFR 1.114, […] and (B) would have been properly finally rejected on the grounds and art of record in the next Office action if they had been entered in the application prior to the filing of the RCE under 37 CFR 1.114.”
It’s important to note that applicants cannot use an RCE to switch inventions or introduce claims that are independent and distinct from those previously examined.
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