How long does a patent application remain in ‘rejected’ status?

A patent application remains in ‘rejected’ status until one of two things happens:

1. The applicant acts upon the examiner’s action within the allotted reply period, or
2. The application becomes abandoned.

As stated in MPEP 203.02:

Its status as a ‘rejected’ application continues as such until acted upon by the applicant in reply to the examiner’s action (within the allotted reply period), or until it becomes abandoned.

The duration of ‘rejected’ status thus depends on the applicant’s timely response or the application’s abandonment.

To learn more:

• rejected application
• patent prosecution
• application status
• patent examination