What is a P.R. case in patent examination?
A P.R. case, mentioned in MPEP 705.01(b), refers to a patent application that requires examination by multiple Technology Centers (TCs) at the USPTO. These cases often involve complex inventions that span different technical fields. The MPEP states:
In the event that the supervisory patent examiners concerned in a P.R. case cannot agree as to the order of examination by their Technology Centers (TCs), the supervisory patent examiner having jurisdiction of the application will direct that a complete search be made of the art relevant to his or her claims prior to referring the application to another TC for report.
This indicates that P.R. cases require special coordination between different TCs to determine the most efficient examination sequence.
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