What are the circumstances under which a patent application becomes ‘abandoned’?

MPEP 203.05 outlines several circumstances under which a patent application can become abandoned:

1. Through formal abandonment by the applicant or by the attorney or agent of record;
2. Through failure of applicant to take appropriate action at some stage in the prosecution of a nonprovisional application;
3. For failure to pay the issue fee (see MPEP § 711 to § 711.05); or
4. In the case of a provisional application, no later than 12 months after the filing date of the provisional application (see MPEP § 711.03(c) and 35 U.S.C. 111(b)(5)).

An abandoned application is removed from the Office docket of pending applications. It’s important to note that abandonment can occur unintentionally, such as missing a deadline, or intentionally, such as when an applicant decides not to pursue the application further.