What is the impact of prior art on CIP applications?
The impact of prior art on Continuation-In-Part (CIP) applications can be significant, especially for claims that are only supported by the CIP disclosure and not the parent application. According to MPEP 2133.01:
“Any prior art disclosing the invention or an obvious variant thereof having a critical reference date more than 1 year prior to the filing date of the child will bar the issuance of a patent under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(b).”
This means that for claims with an effective filing date of the CIP application (rather than the parent application), prior art that was published more than one year before the CIP filing date can be used to reject the claims, even if that prior art would not have been applicable to the parent application.
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