What happens if an applicant fails to respond to an Office action within the specified time period?

If an applicant fails to respond to an Office action within the specified time period, the patent application will become abandoned. According to MPEP 711:

The abandonment of an application is defined as the termination of proceedings thereon due to the failure to file a timely response to an Office action.

This means that the application is no longer pending and will not be examined further. However, the applicant may have options to revive the application under certain circumstances.

To learn more:

• patent application
• abandonment
• Office action
• response deadline