How does an application become ‘amended’?

This page is an FAQ based on guidance from the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure. It is provided as guidance, with links to the ground truth sources. This is information only: it is not legal advice.

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 may include an amendment of the application.

In essence, an application becomes ‘amended’ when the applicant responds to an examiner’s action, whether through election, traversal, or by submitting amendments to the application.