Source: https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s1214.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 09:21:45+00:00

Document:
37 CFR 41.54 Action following decision.
After decision by the Board, jurisdiction over an application or patent under ex parte reexamination proceeding passes to the examiner, subject to appellant's right of appeal or other review, for such further action by appellant or by the examiner, as the condition of the application or patent under ex parte reexamination proceeding may require, to carry into effect the decision.
After an appeal to the Board has been decided, a copy of the decision is provided to appellant and placed in IFW. The 63-day time period for filing an appeal or commencing a civil action under 37 CFR 90.3, or the two month period for filing a request for rehearing under 37 CFR 41.52, begins to run from the “MAIL DATE” if the decision is provided by paper delivery, or the “NOTIFICATION DATE” if the decision is provided by electronic delivery, as shown on the FORM PTOL-90A attached to the decision. The application is returned to the Technology Center electronically via a change in the PALM status code reflecting the decision of the Board. If the Board decision affirms or affirms in part the decision of the examiner, the examiner must await the expiration of this two month period before taking any further action.
(B) requesting rehearing before the Board (37 CFR 41.50(b)(2)).
This procedure only applies where the Board designates a rejection as a new ground of rejection under 37 CFR 41.50(b). If an appellant believes that a Board decision that appears to be an affirmance is actually a new ground of rejection, review of any undesignated new ground of rejection is by way of 37 CFR 41.50(c) and 37 CFR 41.52 and not through the procedure described here.
(b) appellant reopens prosecution in response to the new grounds of rejection (37 CFR 41.35(b)(6)).
The amendment and/or new evidence under 37 CFR 41.50(b)(1), or the request for rehearing under 37 CFR 41.50(b)(2), must be filed within 2 months from the date of the Board’s decision. In accordance with 37 CFR 41.50(f), this 2-month time period may not be extended by the filing of a petition and fee under 37 CFR 1.136(a), but only under the provisions of 37 CFR 1.136(b), or under 37 CFR 1.550(c) if the appeal involves an ex parte reexamination proceeding.
If an appellant files an appropriate amendment or new evidence (see paragraph I below) as to less than all of the claims rejected by the Board under 37 CFR 41.50(b), and a request for rehearing (see paragraph II below) as to the remainder of the claims so rejected, the examiner will not consider the claims for which rehearing was requested. The request for rehearing will be considered by the Board after prosecution before the examiner with respect to the first group of claims is terminated. Argument as to any of the claims rejected by the Board which is not accompanied by an appropriate amendment or new evidence as to those claims will be treated as a request for rehearing as to those claims.
37 CFR 41.50(b)(1) provides that the application will be remanded to the examiner for reconsideration if the appellant submits “an appropriate amendment” of the claims rejected by the Board, “or new evidence relating to the claims so rejected, or both.” An amendment is “appropriate” under the rule if it amends one or more of the claims rejected, or substitutes new claims to avoid the art or reasons adduced by the Board. Ex parte Burrowes, 110 O.G. 599, 1904 C.D. 155 (Comm’r Pat. 1904). Such amended or new claims must be directed to the same subject matter as the appealed claims. Ex parte Comstock, 317 O.G. 4,1923 C.D. 82 (Comm’r Pat. 1923). An amendment which adds new claims without either amending the rejected claims, or substituting new claims for the rejected claims, is not appropriate. The new claims will not be entered, and the examiner should consult a supervisor to have the entry in the file changed to a request for rehearing under 37 CFR 41.50(b)(2), if it contains any argument concerning the Board’s rejection. The “new evidence” under the rule may be a showing under 37 CFR 1.130, 1.131 or 1.132, as may be appropriate.
If the appellant submits an argument without either an appropriate amendment or new evidence as to any of the claims rejected by the Board, it will be treated as a request for rehearing under 37 CFR 41.50(b)(2).
The new ground of rejection raised by the Board does not reopen prosecution except as to that subject matter to which the new rejection was applied. If the Board’s decision in which the rejection under 37 CFR 41.50(b) was made includes an affirmance of the examiner’s rejection, the basis of the affirmed rejection is not open to further prosecution. If the appellant elects to proceed before the examiner with regard to the new rejection, the Board’s affirmance of the examiner’s rejection will be treated as nonfinal for purposes of seeking judicial review, and no request for reconsideration of the affirmance need be filed at that time. Prosecution before the examiner of the 37 CFR 41.50(b) rejection can incidentally result in overcoming the affirmed rejection even though the affirmed rejection is not open to further prosecution. Therefore, it is possible for the application to be allowed as a result of the limited prosecution before the examiner of the 37 CFR 41.50(b) rejection. If the application becomes allowed, the application should not be returned to the Board. Likewise, if the application is abandoned for any reason, the application should not be returned to the Board. If the rejection under 37 CFR 41.50(b) is not overcome, the applicant can file a second appeal (as discussed below). Such appeal must be limited to the 37 CFR 41.50(b) rejection and may not include the affirmed rejection. If the application does not become allowed or abandoned as discussed above, once prosecution of the claims which were rejected under 37 CFR 41.50(b) is terminated before the examiner, the application file must be returned to the Board so that a decision making the original affirmance final can be entered.
The time for filing a request for rehearing on the affirmance or seeking court review runs from the date of the decision by the Board making the original affirmance final. See MPEP §§ 1214.03 and 1216. The date of the decision is the "mailing date" or "notification date" indicated on form PTOL-90 accompanying the Board decision. See In re McNeil-PPC, 574 F.3d 1393, 91 USPQ2d 1576 (Fed. Cir. 2009).
If the examiner does not consider that the amendment and/or new evidence overcomes the rejection, the examiner will again reject the claims. If appropriate, the rejection will be made final.
An applicant in whose application such a final rejection has been made by the examiner may mistakenly believe that they are entitled to review by the Board of the rejection by virtue of the previous appeal, but under the provisions of 37 CFR 41.50(b)(1), after such a final rejection, an applicant who desires further review of the matter must file a new appeal to the Board. Such an appeal from the subsequent rejection by the examiner will be an entirely new appeal involving a different ground and will require a new notice of appeal, appeal brief, and the payment of the appropriate fees.
Instead of filing an amendment and/or new evidence under 37 CFR 41.50(b)(1), an appellant may elect to proceed under 37 CFR 41.50(b)(2) and file a request for rehearing of the Board’s new rejection. The rule requires that the request for rehearing “must address any new ground of rejection and state with particularity the points believed to have been misapprehended or overlooked in rendering the decision and also state all other grounds upon which rehearing is sought.” By proceeding in this manner, the appellant waives their right to further prosecution before the examiner. In re Greenfield, 40 F.2d 775, 5 USPQ 474 (CCPA 1930). This waiver extends to the appellant’s right to amend claims under 37 CFR 41.50(b)(1); appellant may still invoke the limited right to rewrite dependent claims not subject to the new grounds of rejection into independent form. See MPEP § 1214.06. A request for rehearing accompanied by an appropriate amendment of the claims rejected by the Board, and/or by new evidence, does not constitute a proper request for rehearing under 37 CFR 41.50(b)(2), and will be treated as a submission under 37 CFR 41.50(b)(1).
If the Board’s decision also includes an affirmance of the examiner’s rejection, a request for rehearing of the affirmance (see MPEP §§ 1214.03 and 1214.06, subsection IV.) should be filed in a separate paper to facilitate consideration.
(1) Appellant may file a single request for rehearing within two months of the date of the original decision of the Board. No request for rehearing from a decision on rehearing will be permitted, unless the rehearing decision so modified the original decision as to become, in effect, a new decision, and the Board states that a second request for rehearing would be permitted. The request for rehearing must state with particularity the points believed to have been misapprehended or overlooked by the Board. Arguments not raised, and Evidence not previously relied upon, pursuant to §§ 41.37, 41.41, or 41.47 are not permitted in the request for rehearing except as permitted by paragraphs (a)(2) through (a)(4) of this section. When a request for rehearing is made, the Board shall render a decision on the request for rehearing. The decision on the request for rehearing is deemed to incorporate the earlier opinion reflecting its decision for appeal, except for those portions specifically withdrawn on rehearing, and is final for the purpose of judicial review, except when noted otherwise in the decision on rehearing.
(2) Appellant may present a new argument based upon a recent relevant decision of either the Board or a Federal Court.
(3) New arguments responding to a new ground of rejection designated pursuant to § 41.50(b) are permitted.
(4) New arguments that the Board's decision contains an undesignated new ground of rejection are permitted.
(b) Extensions of time under § 1.136(a) of this title for patent applications are not applicable to the time period set forth in this section. See § 1.136(b) of this title for extensions of time to reply for patent applications and § 1.550(c) of this title for extensions of time to reply for ex parte reexamination proceedings.
The term “rehearing” is used in 37 CFR 41.52 for consistency with the language of 35 U.S.C. 6(b). It should not be interpreted as meaning that an appellant is entitled to an oral hearing on the request for rehearing, but only to a rehearing on the written record. It is not the normal practice of the Board to grant rehearings in the sense of another oral hearing. Ex parte Argoudelis, 157 USPQ 437, 441 (Bd. App. 1967), rev’d. on other grounds, 434 F.2d 1390, 168 USPQ 99 (CCPA 1970).
37 CFR 41.52 provides that any request for rehearing must specifically state the points believed to have been misapprehended or overlooked in the Board’s decision. Experience has shown that many requests for rehearing are nothing more than reargument of appellant’s position on appeal. In response, the rule was revised to limit requests to the points of law or fact which appellant feels were overlooked or misapprehended by the Board. Arguments not raised in the briefs before the Board and evidence not previously relied upon in the brief and any reply brief(s) are not permitted in the request for rehearing except appellant may present (A) new argument(s) based upon a recent relevant decision of either the Board or a Federal Court, (B) new argument(s) responding to a new ground of rejection made pursuant to 37 CFR 41.50(b), and (C) new argument(s) that the Board’s decision contains an undesignated new ground of rejection. If appellant relies upon a recent relevant decision of either the Board or a Federal Court, a remand by the Board to the examiner to respond to that new argument may be appropriate.
The 2-month period provided by 37 CFR 41.52(a) for filing a request for rehearing can only be extended under the provisions of 37 CFR 1.136(b) or under 37 CFR 1.550(c) if the appeal involves an ex parte reexamination proceeding.
For extension of time to appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit or commence a civil action under 37 CFR 90.3(c), see MPEP § 1216 and § 1002.02(o).
For requests for reconsideration by the examiner, see MPEP § 1214.04.
Should an Administrative Patent Judge (APJ) retire or otherwise become unavailable to reconsider a decision, normally another APJ will be designated as a substitute for the unavailable APJ.
A complete reversal of the examiner’s rejection brings the case up for immediate action by the examiner. If the reversal does not place an application in condition for immediate allowance (e.g., the Board has entered a new ground of rejection under 37 CFR 41.50(b) or the application contains withdrawn claims to a non-elected invention), the examiner should refer to the situations outlined in MPEP § 1214.06 for appropriate guidance.
The examiner should never regard such a reversal as a challenge to make a new search to uncover other and better references. This is particularly so where the application or ex parte reexamination proceeding has meanwhile been transferred or assigned to an examiner other than the one who rejected the claims leading to the appeal. The second examiner should give full faith and credit to the prior examiner’s search.
If the examiner has specific knowledge of the existence of a particular reference or references which indicate nonpatentability of any of the appealed claims as to which the examiner was reversed, they should submit the matter to the Technology Center (TC) Director or Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) Director for authorization to reopen prosecution under 37 CFR 1.198 for the purpose of entering the new rejection. See MPEP § 1002.02(c) and MPEP § 1214.07. The TC or CRU Director’s approval is placed on the action reopening prosecution.
The examiner may request rehearing of the Board decision. Such a request should normally be made within 2 months of the return of the application to the TC or the reexamination proceeding or reissue application to the CRU.
All requests by the examiner to the Board for rehearing of a decision must be approved by the TC or CRU Director and must also be forwarded to the Office of the Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy for approval before mailing.
The request for rehearing must state with particularity the points believed to have been misapprehended or overlooked by the Board. Arguments not raised in the answers before the Board and evidence not previously relied upon in the answers are not permitted in the request for rehearing except that the examiner may present a new argument based upon a recent relevant decision of either the Board or a Federal Court.
The request should set a period of 2 months for the appellant to file a reply.
If the request for rehearing is approved by the Office of the Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy, the TC or CRU will enter the request for rehearing in the electronic file and a copy will be mailed or given to the appellant.
Pursuant to 37 CFR 41.31(c), an appeal is presumed to be taken from the rejection of all claims. Where, in an appeal brief filed before January 23, 2012, an appellant withdraws some of the appealed claims (i.e., claims subject to a ground of rejection that the appellant did not present for review in the brief), and the Board reverses the examiner on the remaining appealed claims, the withdrawal is treated as an authorization to cancel the withdrawn claims. It is necessary for the examiner to notify the appellant of the cancellation of the withdrawn claims. See MPEP § 1205.02.
37 CFR 41.35 Jurisdiction over appeal.
37 CFR 1.197 Termination of proceedings.
For procedures in reexamination proceedings, see MPEP § 2278 , subsection I.
For procedures in reexamination proceedings, see MPEP § 2278 , subsection II.
B.Application contains a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection, which was not reached by the Board.
37 CFR 1.198 Reopening after a final decision of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

References: § 1214
 § 41
 § 1
 § 1
 § 1
 § 1216
 § 1002
 § 1214
 § 1214
 § 1002
 § 1214
 § 1205
 § 2278
 § 2278