How does the USPTO handle elections made by canceling claims?
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) treats elections made by canceling claims as a valid form of election. According to MPEP 818.02(c):
“Where applicant claims two or more independent or distinct inventions and as a result of amendment to the claims, he or she cancels the claims to one or more of such inventions, leaving claims to one invention, and such claims are acted upon by the examiner, the claimed invention thus acted upon is elected.”
This means that when an applicant cancels claims to all but one invention, the USPTO considers this action as an election of the remaining invention. The examiner will then proceed with the examination of the claims to the elected invention.
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