What is the burden of proof for enablement in patent applications?
In patent examination, the burden of proof for enablement initially falls on the examiner. As stated in MPEP 716.09:
Once the examiner has established a prima facie case of lack of enablement, the burden falls on the applicant to present persuasive arguments, supported by suitable proofs where necessary, that one skilled in the art would have been able to make and use the claimed invention using the disclosure as a guide.
This means that if the examiner provides a reasonable basis for questioning the enablement, the applicant must then provide evidence or arguments to demonstrate that the invention is indeed enabled by the specification.
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