What happens if an amendment under 37 CFR 1.312 is not approved by the examiner?
What happens if an amendment under 37 CFR 1.312 is not approved by the examiner?
If an amendment submitted under 37 CFR 1.312 is not approved by the examiner, it will not be entered into the application. According to MPEP 714.16: ‘If the amendment is disapproved by the examiner, the amendment shall be placed in the application file, and a detailed statement of the reasons for not entering the amendment should be provided.’ In such cases, the applicant has several options:
- They can attempt to persuade the examiner to reconsider through further correspondence
- They can file a continuation application to pursue the desired changes
- They can allow the patent to issue without the amendment and potentially file a reissue application later
It’s important to note that the time for filing a continuation application may be limited, so prompt action is often necessary if the amendment is crucial to the applicant’s goals.
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