How does the patent examination process work?

The patent examination process involves a back-and-forth between the examiner and the applicant. MPEP 203.03 describes a key part of this process:

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 general steps in the examination process are:

1. The applicant files a nonprovisional application.
2. The examiner reviews the application and issues an Office Action.
3. The applicant responds to the Office Action, potentially with amendments.
4. This process may repeat until the application is either allowed or finally rejected.

Each time the applicant responds with changes, the application becomes an ‘amended’ application as described in MPEP 203.03.

To learn more:

• patent examination
• Office Action
• patent prosecution
• amended application