What is an Ex parte Quayle action?

An Ex parte Quayle action is a type of Office action issued when an application is in condition for allowance except for formal matters. As stated in MPEP 714.14:

Under the decision in Ex parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 1935 C.D. 11; 453 OG 213 (Comm’r Pat. 1935), after all claims in an application have been allowed the prosecution of the application on the merits is closed even though there may be outstanding formal objections which preclude fully closing the prosecution.

This means that while the substantive examination is complete, there are still minor formal issues that need to be addressed before the application can be allowed.

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Tags: allowance, patent prosecution