What is the significance of abandoned applications in patent examination?

Abandoned applications play a significant role in patent examination as they can serve as prior art references. According to MPEP 901.02:

“An abandoned application that has been opened to public inspection may be used as a reference in the same manner as a published application or an issued patent.”

This means that even if an application doesn’t result in a granted patent, it can still impact the patentability of future inventions if it contains relevant disclosures.

To learn more:

• abandoned applications
• prior art
• patent examination