How does the “effective filing date” affect CIP applications in patent examination?

The “effective filing date” plays a crucial role in the examination of Continuation-In-Part (CIP) applications. According to MPEP 2133.01:

“The effective filing date of a claimed invention is determined on a claim-by-claim basis and not an application-by-application basis.”

This means that:

• Each claim in a CIP application is evaluated separately to determine its effective filing date.
• Claims fully supported by the parent application get the benefit of the parent’s filing date.
• New matter introduced in the CIP only gets the filing date of the CIP itself.

Examiners must carefully analyze each claim to determine which filing date applies, as this affects the available prior art for rejections.

To learn more:

• CIP applications
• effective filing date
• claim analysis
• prior art