What are the reasons for a patent application to be considered ‘abandoned’?

A patent application can be considered ‘abandoned’ for several reasons. According to MPEP 203.05, an abandoned application is one that is removed from the Office docket of pending applications due to:

• Formal abandonment by the applicant or by the attorney or agent of record
• Failure of applicant to take appropriate action at some stage in the prosecution of a nonprovisional application
• Failure to pay the issue fee
• In the case of a provisional application, no later than 12 months after the filing date of the provisional application

It’s important for applicants to be aware of these reasons to avoid unintentional abandonment of their applications.

For more information on issue fee, visit: issue fee.

For more information on patent prosecution, visit: patent prosecution.

For more information on provisional application, visit: provisional application.