When is a patent application considered ‘rejected’?

This page is an FAQ based on guidance from the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure. It is provided as guidance, with links to the ground truth sources. This is information only: it is not legal advice.

MPEP 203.02 defines a ‘rejected’ application as follows:

A nonprovisional application which, during its prosecution in the examining group and before allowance, contains an unanswered examiner’s action is designated as a ‘rejected’ application. Its status as a ‘rejected’ application continues as such until acted upon by the applicant in reply to the examiner’s action (within the allotted reply period), or until it becomes abandoned.

This status applies to applications that have received an Office action from the examiner but have not yet been responded to by the applicant.