What are linking claims in patent applications and how should they be treated?
Linking claims in patent applications are claims that link multiple inventions together. According to MPEP 814:
“The generic or other linking claims should not be associated with any one of the linked inventions since such claims must be examined with the elected linked invention.”
This means that examiners should not group linking claims with any specific invention group during a restriction requirement. Instead, these claims should be examined along with whichever linked invention the applicant elects to pursue. For more detailed information on handling linking claims, refer to MPEP 809.
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