Is it possible to expunge part of the original disclosure in a patent application?

Expunging part of the original disclosure in a patent application is extremely difficult and rarely granted. According to MPEP 724.05:

A petition to expunge a part of the original disclosure must be filed under 37 CFR 1.183, since such a request requires a waiver of the requirements of 37 CFR 1.59(a). Petitions under 37 CFR 1.183 should be directed to the Office of Petitions. The petition must explain why justice requires waiver of the rules to permit the requested material to be expunged.

However, the MPEP also states: It should be noted that petitions to expunge information which is a part of the original disclosure, such as the specification and drawings, will ordinarily not be favorably entertained.

This is because the original disclosures are scanned for record-keeping purposes, and changing these records may not be possible. The USPTO emphasizes that the grant of a petition to expunge information which is part of the original disclosure would require that the USPTO record of the originally filed application be changed, which may not be possible.

To learn more:

• original disclosure
• expunge information
• 37 CFR 1.183
• patent application
• petition to expunge

To learn more:

• 37 CFR 1.183