What actions can an applicant take in response to an examiner’s action?

This page is an FAQ based on guidance from the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure. It is provided as guidance, with links to the ground truth sources. This is information only: it is not legal advice.

According to MPEP 203.03, an applicant has several options when responding to an examiner’s action:

The applicant’s reply may be confined to an election, a traverse of the action taken by the examiner or may include an amendment of the application.

These options can be broken down as follows:

• Election: Choosing between different inventions or species identified by the examiner.
• Traverse: Arguing against the examiner’s rejections or objections.
• Amendment: Modifying the application to address the examiner’s concerns or to clarify the invention.