What is a transition application under the America Invents Act (AIA)?

A transition application under the America Invents Act (AIA) is:

• Filed on or after March 16, 2013
• Claims foreign priority to or domestic benefit of an application filed before March 16, 2013

Transition applications may be subject to either pre-AIA or AIA rules depending on the effective filing date of the claimed inventions. The MPEP states: “Transition applications are either pre-AIA first-to-invent applications or AIA first-inventor-to-file applications depending on the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s).” (MPEP 210)