What is the effect of filing a continuation or continuation-in-part application on the parent application?

Filing a continuation or continuation-in-part (CIP) application does not automatically affect the status of the parent application. The parent application continues to be examined or remains patented (if already issued) independently of the child application.

Key points to note:

1. The parent application remains pending unless expressly abandoned, allowed to go abandoned, or issued as a patent.

2. Filing a continuation or CIP does not automatically abandon the parent application.

3. Prosecution can continue in both the parent and child applications simultaneously.

The MPEP states: “The mere filing of a continuation-in-part application does not itself create a presumption that the applicant acquiesces in any rejections which may be outstanding in the copending national nonprovisional application or applications upon which the continuation-in-part application relies for benefit.”

However, applicants should be aware of potential double patenting issues that may arise between the parent and child applications.