How does an examiner notify an applicant that a CPA has been established?

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.

When a Continued Prosecution Application (CPA) is established, the examiner notifies the applicant in the first Office action of the CPA. According to MPEP ¶ 2.30, the examiner uses a specific form paragraph:

“The request filed on [1] for a Continued Prosecution Application (CPA) under 37 CFR 1.53(d) based on parent Application No. [2] is acceptable and a CPA has been established. An action on the CPA follows.”

This notification is important because:

• Applicants are not separately notified of the abandonment of the parent application
• A filing receipt is not normally sent for a CPA

Therefore, this Office action serves as the official notification that the CPA has been properly established.

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