MPEP § 708 — MPEP § 708
Current through: 2022-07-01

708-Order of Examination 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 Manual of Patent Examining Procedure 

 Chapter 0700 

 Section 708 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 708 Order of Examination [R-01.2024]

 Nonprovisional applications filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
 and accepted as complete applications are assigned for examination to the respective
 examining Technology Centers (TCs) having the classes of inventions to which the
 applications relate. Nonprovisional applications are ordinarily taken up for examination by
 the examiner to whom they have been assigned in the order in which they have been filed
 except for those applications in which examination has been advanced pursuant to
 37 CFR
 1.102 . See 37 CFR 1.496 and MPEP § 1893.03 for the
 order of examination of international applications in the national stage, including taking
 up out of order certain national stage applications which have been indicated as satisfying
 the criteria of PCT
 Article 33(1)-(4) as to novelty, inventive step and industrial
 applicability.
 

 Applications which have been acted upon by the examiner, and which have
 been placed by the applicant in condition for further action by the examiner (amended
 applications) shall be taken up for action in such order as shall be determined by the
 Director of the USPTO.
 

 Each examiner will give priority to those applications in their docket
 which have been identified as having the oldest claimed domestic benefit date. This basic
 policy applies to all applications; rare circumstances may justify TC Directors granting
 individual exceptions.
 

 The actual filing date of a continuation-in-part application is used for
 docketing purposes. However, the examiner may act on a continuation-in-part application by
 using the oldest date for which domestic benefit is claimed, if desired.
 

 If at any time an examiner determines that a domestic benefit claim to an
 earlier filing date of any application differs from what the records show, the technical
 support staff should be informed, who should promptly amend the records to show the correct
 status, with the date of correction.
 

 The order of examination for each examiner is to give priority to reissue
 applications and to reexamination proceedings, with top priority to reissue applications in
 which litigation has been stayed ( MPEP § 1442.03 ), to ex
 parte reexamination proceedings involved in litigation ( MPEP § 2261 ), and to
 inter partes reexamination proceedings involved in litigation
 ( MPEP §
 2661 ), then to those special cases having a fixed 30-day due
 date, such as examiner’s answers and decisions on motions. Most other cases in the
 “special” category (for example, interference cases, cases made special by petition, cases
 ready for final conclusion, etc.) will continue in this category, with the earliest claimed
 domestic benefit date among them normally controlling priority.
 

 All amendments before final rejection should be responded to within two
 months of receipt.
 

 
 708.01 List of Special Cases [R-01.2024]

 
 37 CFR 1.102 Advancement of examination. 

 
 (a) Applications will not be advanced out of turn for examination
 or for further action except as provided by this part, or upon order of the
 Director to expedite the business of the Office, or upon filing of a request
 under paragraph (b) or (e) of this section or upon filing a petition or request
 under paragraph (c) or (d) of this section with a showing which, in the opinion
 of the Director, will justify so advancing it.
 

 (b) Applications wherein the inventions are deemed of peculiar
 importance to some branch of the public service and the head of some department
 of the Government requests immediate action for that reason, may be advanced
 for examination.
 

 (c) A petition to make an application special may be filed without
 a fee if the basis for the petition is: 
 
 (1) The applicant’s age or health; or

 (2) That the invention will materially:
 
 (i) Enhance the quality of the environment;

 (ii) Contribute to the development or conservation of
 energy resources; or
 

 (iii) Contribute to countering terrorism.

 
 

 
 

 (d) A petition to make an application special on grounds other than
 those referred to in paragraph (c) of this section must be accompanied by the
 fee set forth in § 1.17(h) .
 

 (e) A request for prioritized examination under this
 paragraph must comply with the requirements of this paragraph and be
 accompanied by the prioritized examination fee set forth in § 1.17(c) , the processing fee set forth in §
 1.17(i) , and if not already
 paid, the publication fee set forth in § 1.18(d) . An application for
 which prioritized examination has been requested may not contain or be amended
 to contain more than four independent claims, more than thirty total claims, or
 any multiple dependent claim. Prioritized examination under this paragraph will
 not be accorded to international applications that have not entered the
 national stage under 35 U.S.C. 371 , design
 applications, reissue applications, provisional applications, or reexamination
 proceedings. A request for prioritized examination must also comply with the
 requirements of paragraph (e)(1) or paragraph (e)(2) of this section. No more
 than 15,000 requests for such prioritized examination will be accepted in any
 fiscal year.
 
 (1) A request for prioritized examination
 may be filed with an original utility or plant nonprovisional application
 under 35 U.S.C. 111(a) . The
 application must include a specification as prescribed by
 35 U.S.C. 112 including at least one claim, a
 drawing when necessary, and the inventor’s oath or declaration on filing,
 except that the filing of an inventor’s oath or declaration may be
 postponed in accordance with § 1.53(f)(3) if an application data sheet meeting
 the conditions specified in § 1.53(f)(3)(i) is present upon filing. If the
 application is a utility application, it must be filed via the USPTO
 patent electronic filing system and include the filing fee under §
 1.16(a) , search fee under § 1.16(k) , and examination fee under §
 1.16(o) upon filing. If the application is a plant
 application, it must include the filing fee under § 1.16(c) , search fee under § 1.16(m) , and examination fee under §
 1.16(q) upon filing. The request for prioritized
 examination in compliance with this paragraph must be present upon filing
 of the application, except that the applicant may file an amendment to
 cancel any independent claims in excess of four, any total claims in
 excess of thirty, and any multiple dependent claim not later than one
 month from a first decision on the request for prioritized examination.
 This one-month time period is not extendable.
 

 (2) A request for prioritized examination
 may be filed with or after a request for continued examination in
 compliance with § 1.114 . If the
 application is a utility application, the request must be filed via the
 USPTO patent electronic filing system. The request must be filed before
 the mailing of the first Office action after the filing of the request
 for continued examination under § 1.114 . Only a single
 such request for prioritized examination under this paragraph may be
 granted in an application.
 

 
 

 
 

 Certain procedures by the examiners take precedence over actions even on
 special cases.
 

 For example, all papers typed and ready for signature should be
 completed and mailed.
 

 All allowed cases returned to the examiner marked as a
 
 "Printer Rush"
 
 
 must be processed and returned
 within the period indicated.
 

 Reissue applications, particularly those involved in stayed litigation,
 should be given priority.
 

 Applications in which practice requires that the examiner act within a
 set period, such as 2 months after appellants brief to furnish the examiner’s answers
 ( MPEP
 § 1208 ), necessarily take priority over special cases without
 specific time limits.
 

 If an examiner is satisfied that an application is in condition for
 allowance or needs to be finally rejected, the examiner should give action forthwith
 instead of making the application await its turn.
 

 Subject alone to diligent prosecution by the applicant, an
 application for patent that has once been made special and advanced out of turn for
 examination by reason of a ruling made in that particular case (by the Director of the
 USPTO or a Commissioner) will continue to be special throughout its entire course of
 prosecution in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, including appeal, if any, to the
 Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
 

 The following is a list of special cases (those which are advanced out
 of turn for examination):
 

 
 (A) Applications on inventions that are deemed of peculiar importance
 to some branch of the public service and when for that reason the head of some
 department of the Government requests immediate action and the Director of the
 USPTO so orders ( 37 CFR 1.102 ).
 

 (B) Applications made special as a result of a petition to make
 special, a request for prioritized examination, or a request for participation in
 a PPH program. (See MPEP § 708.02 et seq. )
 

 (C) Applications for reissues, particularly those involved in stayed
 litigation ( 37
 CFR 1.176 ).
 

 (D) Applications remanded by an appellate tribunal for further
 action.
 

 (E) Applications, once taken up for action by an examiner according to
 their earliest claimed domestic benefit date, should be treated as special by an
 examiner, art unit or Technology Center to which they may subsequently be
 transferred; exemplary situations include new cases transferred as the result of a
 telephone election and cases transferred as the result of a timely reply to any
 official action.
 

 (F) Applications which appear to interfere with other applications
 previously considered and found to be allowable, or which will be placed in
 interference with an unexpired patent or patents.
 

 (G) Applications ready for allowance, or ready for allowance except as
 to formal matters.
 

 (H) Applications which are in condition for final rejection.

 (I) Applications pending more than 5 years, including those which, by
 relation to a prior United States application, have an effective pendency of more
 than 5 years. See MPEP § 707.02 .
 

 (J) Reexamination proceedings, MPEP §§ 2261 and
 2661 .
 

 
 See also MPEP §§ 714.13 , 1207 , and 1309 .
 

 

 
 708.02 Petition To Make Special [R-01.2024]

 
 37 CFR 1.102 Advancement of examination. 

 
 (a) Applications will not be advanced out of turn for examination
 or for further action except as provided by this part, or upon order of the
 Director to expedite the business of the Office, or upon filing of a request
 under paragraph (b) or (e) of this section or upon filing a petition or request
 under paragraph (c) or (d) of this section with a showing which, in the opinion
 of the Director, will justify so advancing it.
 

 (b) Applications wherein the inventions are deemed of peculiar
 importance to some branch of the public service and the head of some department
 of the Government requests immediate action for that reason, may be advanced
 for examination.
 

 (c) A petition to make an application special may be filed without
 a fee if the basis for the petition is:
 
 (1) The applicant’s age or health; or

 (2) That the invention will materially:
 
 (i) Enhance the quality of the environment;

 (ii) Contribute to the development or conservation of
 energy resources; or
 

 (iii) Contribute to countering terrorism.

 
 

 
 

 (d) A petition to make an application special on grounds other than
 those referred to in paragraph (c) of this section must be accompanied by the
 fee set forth in § 1.17(h) .
 

 (e) A request for prioritized examination under this
 paragraph must comply with the requirements of this paragraph and be
 accompanied by the prioritized examination fee set forth in § 1.17(c) , the processing fee set forth in §
 1.17(i) , and if not already
 paid, the publication fee set forth in § 1.18(d) . An application for
 which prioritized examination has been requested may not contain or be amended
 to contain more than four independent claims, more than thirty total claims, or
 any multiple dependent claim. Prioritized examination under this paragraph will
 not be accorded to international applications that have not entered the
 national stage under 35 U.S.C. 371 , design
 applications, reissue applications, provisional applications, or reexamination
 proceedings. A request for prioritized examination must also comply with the
 requirements of paragraph (e)(1) or paragraph (e)(2) of this section. No more
 than 15,000 requests for such prioritized examination will be accepted in any
 fiscal year.
 
 (1) A request for prioritized examination
 may be filed with an original utility or plant nonprovisional application
 under 35 U.S.C. 111(a) . The
 application must include a specification as prescribed by
 35 U.S.C. 112 including at least one claim, a
 drawing when necessary, and the inventor’s oath or declaration on filing,
 except that the filing of an inventor’s oath or declaration may be
 postponed in accordance with § 1.53(f)(3) if an application data sheet meeting
 the conditions specified in § 1.53(f)(3)(i) is present upon filing. If the
 application is a utility application, it must be filed via the USPTO
 patent electronic filing system and include the filing fee under §
 1.16(a) , search fee under § 1.16(k) , and examination fee under §
 1.16(o) upon filing. If the application is a plant
 application, it must include the filing fee under § 1.16(c) , search fee under § 1.16(m) , and examination fee under §
 1.16(q) upon filing. The request for prioritized
 examination in compliance with this paragraph must be present upon filing
 of the application, except that the applicant may file an amendment to
 cancel any independent claims in excess of four, any total claims in
 excess of thirty, and any multiple dependent claim not later than one
 month from a first decision on the request for prioritized examination.
 This one-month time period is not extendable.
 

 (2) A request for prioritized examination
 may be filed with or after a request for continued examination in
 compliance with § 1.114 . If the
 application is a utility application, the request must be filed via the
 USPTO patent electronic filing system. The request must be filed before
 the mailing of the first Office action after the filing of the request
 for continued examination under § 1.114 . Only a single
 such request for prioritized examination under this paragraph may be
 granted in an application.
 

 
 

 
 

 New applications ordinarily are taken up for examination in the order of
 their filing dates in view of any domestic benefit claimed. Certain exceptions are made
 by way of petitions to make special, which may be granted under the conditions set forth
 below. Any statement in support of a petition to make special must be based on a good
 faith belief that the invention in fact qualifies for special status. See
 37 CFR
 1.56 and 11.18 . Advancement of examination
 under 37 CFR 1.102 may be sought via a petition to make special under 37 CFR 1.102(c) -
 (d) , or via a request for prioritized examination under
 37 CFR
 1.102(e) .
 

 Any petition to make special, other than those based on applicant’s
 health or age or participation in the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program,
 filed on or after August 25, 2006 must meet the requirements for the revised accelerated
 examination program set forth in MPEP § 708.02(a) . For prioritized
 examination under 37 CFR 1.102(e) , see MPEP §
 708.02(b) . See subsections I and II below for the requirements
 for filing a petition to make special based on applicant’s health or age.
 

 See the version of MPEP § 708.02 in force in August 2010
 (Eighth Edition, Revision 9) for guidelines and the requirements for a petition to make
 special filed in an application before August 25, 2006. A petition to make special filed
 on or after August 25, 2006 will only be granted if it is based upon applicant’s health
 or age, is under the PPH pilot program (see MPEP §
 708.02(c) ), or complies with the requirements set forth in
 MPEP §
 708.02(a) . For a request for prioritized examination under
 37 CFR
 1.102(e) filed on or after September 26, 2011, see
 MPEP §
 708.02(b) . 
 

 I. APPLICANT’S HEALTH An application may be made special upon a petition by applicant
 accompanied by any evidence showing that the state of health of the inventor or joint
 inventor is such that they might not be available to assist in the prosecution of the
 application if it were to run its normal course, such as a doctor’s certificate or
 other medical certificate. No fee is required for such a petition. See
 37 CFR
 1.102(c) .
 

 Personal/medical information submitted as evidence to support the
 petition will be available to the public if the application file and contents are
 available to the public pursuant to 37 CFR 1.11 or 1.14 . If
 applicant does not wish to have this information become part of the application file
 record, the information must be submitted pursuant to MPEP § 724.02 .
 

 II. APPLICANT’S AGE An application may be made special upon filing a petition including
 any evidence showing that the inventor or joint inventor is 65 years of age, or more,
 such as a statement by the inventor or joint inventor or a statement from a
 registered practitioner that they have evidence that the inventor or joint inventor
 is 65 years of age or older. No fee is required with such a petition. See
 37 CFR
 1.102(c) .
 

 The petition can be filed as a web-based ePetition. See
 the ePetition Resource Page ( www.uspto.gov/Epetitions ).
 

 Personal/medical information submitted as evidence to support the
 petition will be available to the public if the application file and contents are
 available to the public pursuant to 37 CFR 1.11 or 1.14 . If
 applicant does not wish to have this information become part of the application file
 record, the information must be submitted pursuant to MPEP § 724.02 .
 

 III. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will accord “special” status to
 all patent applications for inventions which materially enhance the quality of the
 environment of mankind by contributing to the restoration or maintenance of the basic
 life-sustaining natural elements, i.e., air, water, and soil. Any petition to make
 special filed under this subsection must comply with the requirements set forth in
 MPEP §
 708.02(a) .
 

 All applicants desiring to participate in this program should
 petition that their applications be accorded “special” status. The petition under
 37 CFR
 1.102 must state that special status is sought because the
 invention materially enhances the quality of the environment of mankind by
 contributing to the restoration or maintenance of the basic life-sustaining natural
 elements. No fee is required for such a petition. See 37 CFR
 1.102(c) . If it is not clear from the application's disclosure
 that the claimed invention materially enhances the quality of the environment by
 contributing to the restoration or maintenance of one of the basic life-sustaining
 natural elements, the petition must be accompanied by a statement under
 37 CFR
 1.102 by the applicant, assignee, or an attorney/agent
 registered to practice before the Office explaining how the materiality standard is
 met. The materiality standard does not permit an applicant to speculate as to how a
 hypothetical end-user might specially apply the invention in a manner that could
 materially enhance the quality of the environment. Nor does such standard permit an
 applicant to enjoy the benefit of advanced examination merely because some minor
 aspect of the claimed invention may enhance the quality of the environment.
 

 IV. ENERGY The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will, on petition, accord
 “special” status to all patent applications for inventions which materially
 contribute to (A) the discovery or development of energy resources, or (B) the more
 efficient utilization and conservation of energy resources. Examples of inventions in
 category (A) would be developments in fossil fuels (natural gas, coal, and
 petroleum), hydrogen fuel technologies, nuclear energy, solar energy, etc. Category
 (B) would include inventions relating to the reduction of energy consumption in
 combustion systems, industrial equipment, household appliances, etc. Any petition to
 make special filed under this subsection must comply with the requirements set forth
 in MPEP §
 708.02(a) .
 

 All applicants desiring to participate in this program should
 petition that their applications be accorded “special” status. The petition under
 37 CFR
 1.102 must state that special status is sought because the
 invention materially contributes to category (A) or (B) set forth above. No fee is
 required for such a petition, 37 CFR 1.102(c) . If the
 application disclosure is not clear on its face that the claimed invention materially
 contributes to category (A) or (B), the petition must be accompanied by a statement
 under 37 CFR
 1.102 by the applicant, assignee, or an attorney/agent
 registered to practice before the Office explaining how the materiality standard is
 met. The materiality standard does not permit an applicant to speculate as to how a
 hypothetical end-user might specially apply the invention in a manner that could
 materially contribute to category (A) or (B). Nor does such standard permit an
 applicant to enjoy the benefit of advanced examination merely because some minor
 aspect of the claimed invention may be directed to category (A) or (B).
 

 V. INVENTIONS FOR COUNTERING TERRORISM In view of the importance of developing technologies for countering
 terrorism and the desirability of prompt disclosure of advances made in these fields,
 the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will accord “special” status to patent
 applications for inventions which materially contribute to countering terrorism. Any
 petition to make special filed under this subsection must comply with the
 requirements set forth in MPEP § 708.02(a) .
 

 International terrorism as defined in 18 U.S.C. 2331 includes
 “activities that - (A) involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that are
 a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State, or that would
 be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or
 of any State; [and] (B) appear to be intended - (i) to intimidate or coerce a
 civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or
 coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by assassination or
 kidnapping...” The types of technology for countering terrorism could include, but
 are not limited to, systems for detecting/identifying explosives, aircraft
 sensors/security systems, and vehicular barricades/disabling systems. 
 

 All applicants desiring to participate in this program should
 petition that their applications be accorded special status. The petition under
 37 CFR
 1.102 must state that special status is sought because the
 invention materially contributes to countering terrorism. No fee is required for such
 a petition. See 37
 CFR 1.102(c) . If the application disclosure is not clear on its
 face that the claimed invention is materially directed to countering terrorism, the
 petition must be accompanied by a statement under 37 CFR 1.102 by the applicant,
 assignee, or an attorney/agent registered to practice before the Office explaining
 how the invention materiality contributes to countering terrorism. The materiality
 standard does not permit an applicant to speculate as to how a hypothetical end-user
 might specially apply the invention in a manner that could counter terrorism. Nor
 does such standard permit an applicant to enjoy the benefit of advanced examination
 merely because some minor aspect of the claimed invention may be directed to
 countering terrorism.
 

 VI. HANDLING OF PETITIONS TO MAKE SPECIAL OR REQUESTS FOR ADVANCEMENT OF
 EXAMINATION Applications which have been made special will be advanced out of
 turn for examination and will continue to be treated as special throughout the entire
 prosecution in the Office with the exception of applications having been granted
 prioritized examination which remain special until prioritized examination is
 terminated or until a final disposition of the application (see MPEP §
 708.02(b) , subsection II).
 

 Each petition to make special or request to advance examination,
 regardless of the ground upon which the petition or request is based and the nature
 of the decision, is made of record in the application file, together with the
 decision thereon. The part of the Office that rules on a petition is responsible for
 properly entering that petition and the resulting decision in the file record. The
 petition, with any attached papers and supporting affidavits, will be provided as a
 single document in the application’s file wrapper. The decision will be provided as a
 separate document similarly entered. To ensure entries in the “Contents” in proper
 order, the technical support staff in the TC will make certain that all papers prior
 to a petition have been entered and/or listed in the application file before
 forwarding it for consideration of the petition. Note MPEP § 1002.02(s) .
 Currently petitions to make special based on applicant’s health or age, participation
 in a PPH program, or under a pilot program, and requests for prioritized examination
 under 37
 CFR 1.102(e) are decided by the Office of Petitions. All other
 petitions to make special are decided by the Quality Assurance Specialist of the TC
 to which the application is assigned.
 

 
 708.02(a) Accelerated Examination [R-01.2024]

 All petitions to make special, except those based on applicant’s
 health or age or participation in the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program
 must meet the requirements set forth in subsection I below. See MPEP § 708.02 
 subsection I or II (where appropriate) for the requirements for filing a petition to
 make special based on applicant’s health or age. For prioritized examination under
 37 CFR
 1.102(e) , see MPEP § 708.02(b) . For
 participation in the Patent Prosecution Highway program, see MPEP §
 708.02(c) . 
 

 I. REQUIREMENTS FOR PETITIONS TO MAKE SPECIAL UNDER ACCELERATED
 EXAMINATION A new application may be granted accelerated examination status
 under the following conditions:
 

 
 (A) The application must be filed with a petition to make
 special under the accelerated examination program accompanied by either the
 fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(h) or a
 statement that the claimed subject matter is directed to environmental
 quality, the development or conservation of energy resources, or countering
 terrorism. See 37 CFR 1.102(c)(2) .
 Applicant should use form PTO/SB/28 for filing the petition.
 

 (B) The application must be a non-reissue utility or design
 application filed under 35 U.S.C. 111(a) .
 

 (C) The application, petition, and required fees must be filed
 electronically using the USPTO patent electronic filing system. If the USPTO
 patent electronic filing system is not available to the public during the
 normal business hours for the system at the time of filing the application,
 applicant may file the application, other papers, and fees by mail
 accompanied by a statement that the USPTO patent electronic filing system
 was not available during the normal business hours. The applicant should
 prominently indicate the paper filing is under the accelerated examination
 procedure to help ensure proper processing. Note, however, when the
 documents are filed in paper instead of through the USPTO patent electronic
 filing system, the final disposition of the application may occur later than
 twelve months from the filing of the application. See subsection VIII.F.
 below for more information.
 

 (D) At the time of filing, the application must be complete
 under 37 CFR 1.51 and in condition for examination. For
 example, the application must be filed together with the basic filing fee,
 search fee, examination fee, and application size fee (if applicable), and
 an executed inventor’s oath or declaration (under 37 CFR
 1.63 or 1.64 ) for each inventor.
 See subsection VIII.C. below for more information. It is noted that while an
 inventor’s oath or declaration is not required to obtain a filing date for
 applications filed under 35 U.S.C. 111(a) , it is
 a requirement under 37 CFR 1.51 and must be
 present upon filing for entry in the program. Permitting an oath or
 declaration after filing would delay processing of the application and make
 it difficult to achieve the program’s goal of reaching a patentability
 decision within twelve months of the filing date.
 

 (E) The application must contain three or fewer independent
 claims and twenty or fewer total claims. The application must also not
 contain any multiple dependent claims. By filing a petition to make special
 under the accelerated examination program the applicant is agreeing not to
 separately argue the patentability of any dependent claim during any appeal
 in the application. Specifically, the applicant is agreeing that the
 dependent claims will be grouped together with and not argued separately
 from the independent claim from which they depend in any appeal brief filed
 in the application ( 37 CFR 41.37(c)(1)(iv) ).
 The petition must include a statement that applicant will agree not to
 separately argue the patentability of any dependent claim during any appeal
 in the application. See form PTO/SB/28.
 

 (F) The claims must be directed to a single invention. If the
 USPTO determines that all the claims presented are not directed to a single
 invention, applicant must make an election without traverse in a telephonic
 interview. The petition must include a statement that applicant will agree
 to make an election without traverse in a telephonic interview. See form
 PTO/SB/28.
 

 (G) The applicant must be willing to have an interview
 (including an interview before a first Office action) to discuss the prior
 art and any potential rejections or objections with the intention of
 clarifying and possibly resolving all issues with respect to patentability
 at that time. The petition must include a statement that applicant will
 agree to have such an interview when requested by the examiner. See form
 PTO/SB/28.
 

 (H) At the time of filing, applicant must provide a statement
 that a preexamination search was conducted, including an identification of
 the field of search by group/subgroup of the Cooperative Patent
 Classification for utility applications or class/subclass of the U.S. Patent
 Classification for design applications and the date of the search, where
 applicable. For database searches, applicant must provide the search logic
 or chemical structure or sequence used as a query, the name of the file or
 files searched and the database service, and the date of the search.
 
 (1) This preexamination search must involve U.S. patents
 and patent application publications, foreign patent documents, and
 non-patent literature, unless the applicant can justify with
 reasonable certainty that no references more pertinent than those
 already identified are likely to be found in the eliminated source and
 includes such a justification with this statement.
 

 (2) This preexamination search must be directed to the
 claimed invention and encompass all of the features of the claims,
 giving the claims the broadest reasonable interpretation.
 

 (3) The preexamination search must also encompass the
 disclosed features that may be claimed. An amendment to the claims
 (including any new claim) that is not encompassed by the
 preexamination search or an updated accelerated examination support
 document (see item I) will be treated as not fully responsive and will
 not be entered. See subsection IV below for more information.
 

 (4) A search report from a foreign patent office will not
 satisfy this preexamination search requirement unless the search
 report satisfies the requirements for a preexamination search.
 

 (5) Any statement in support of a petition to make special
 must be based on a good faith belief that the preexamination search
 was conducted in compliance with these requirements. See
 37 CFR 1.56 and 11.18 .
 

 
 

 (I) At the time of filing, applicant must provide in support of
 the petition an accelerated examination support document.
 
 (1) An accelerated examination support document must
 include an information disclosure statement (IDS) in compliance with
 37 CFR 1.98 citing each reference deemed most
 closely related to the subject matter of each of the claims.
 

 (2) For each reference cited, the accelerated examination
 support document must include an identification of all the limitations
 in the claims that are disclosed by the reference specifying where the
 limitation is disclosed in the cited reference.
 

 (3) The accelerated examination support document must
 include a detailed explanation of how each of the claims are
 patentable over the references cited with the particularity required
 by 37 CFR 1.111(b) and (c) . 
 

 (4) The accelerated examination support document must
 include a concise statement of the utility of the invention as defined
 in each of the independent claims (unless the application is a design
 application). 
 

 (5) The accelerated examination support document must
 include a showing of where each limitation of the claims finds support
 under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) 
 or the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C.
 112 in the written description of the
 specification. If applicable, the showing must also identify: 
 
 (i) each means- (or step-) plus-function claim
 element that invokes consideration under 35
 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA
 35 U.S.C. 112 , paragraph 6; and 
 

 (ii) the structure, material, or acts in the
 specification that correspond to each means- (or step-)
 plus-function claim element that invokes consideration under
 35 U.S.C.
 112(f) or pre-AIA
 35 U.S.C. 112 , paragraph 6. If the
 application claims the benefit of one or more applications under
 title 35, United States Code, the showing must also include
 where each limitation of the claims finds support under
 35 U.S.C.
 112(a) or the first paragraph of
 pre-AIA 35 U.S.C.
 112 in each such application in which such
 support exists.
 

 
 

 (6)
 
 (i) For an application that is
 subject to examination under AIA 35
 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (see MPEP §
 2159 et seq. to determine if an application is
 subject to the first inventor to file (FITF) provisions of the
 AIA), the accelerated examination support document must identify
 any cited references that disclose subject matter that may be
 excepted as prior art under 35
 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) .
 

 (ii) For an application that is
 subject to examination under the pre-AIA
 (first to invent (FTI)) 35 U.S.C. 102 and
 103 , the accelerated examination support
 document must identify any cited references that may be
 disqualified as prior art under pre-AIA 35
 U.S.C. 103(c) as amended by the
 Cooperative Research and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) Act
 (Pub. L. 108-453, 118 Stat. 3596 (2004)).
 

 
 

 
 

 II. DECISION ON PETITION TO MAKE SPECIAL Applicant will be notified of the decision by the deciding
 official. If the application and/or petition does not meet all the requirements
 set forth in subsection I above for the application to be granted special status
 (including a determination that the search is deemed to be insufficient), the
 applicant will be notified of the defects and the application will remain in the
 status of a new application awaiting action in its regular turn. In those
 instances in which the petition or accelerated examination support document is
 defective in one or more requirements, applicant will be given a
 single opportunity to perfect the petition or accelerated
 examination support document within a time period of two months. Extensions of
 time under the provisions of 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be
 permitted, but filing a petition for an extension of time will result in the
 application being taken out of the accelerated examination program. This
 opportunity to perfect a petition does not apply to applications that
 are not in condition for examination on filing. See subsection VIII.C. below. If
 the document is satisfactorily corrected in a timely manner, the petition will
 then be granted, but the final disposition of the application may occur later than
 twelve months from the filing date of the application. Once a petition has been
 granted, prosecution will proceed according to the procedure set forth below.
 

 III. THE INITIAL ACTION ON THE APPLICATION BY THE EXAMINER Once the application is granted special status, the application
 will be docketed and taken up for action expeditiously (e.g., within two weeks of
 the granting of special status). If it is determined that all the claims presented
 are not directed to a single invention, the telephone restriction practice set
 forth in MPEP §
 812.01 will be followed. Applicant must make an election
 without traverse during the telephonic interview. If applicant refuses to make an
 election without traverse or the examiner cannot reach the applicant after a
 reasonable effort, the examiner will treat the first claimed invention (the
 invention of claim 1) as constructively elected without traverse for examination.
 Continuing applications (e.g., a divisional application directed to the
 non-elected inventions) will not automatically be given special status based on
 papers filed with the petition in the parent application. Each continuing
 application must on its own meet all requirements for special status.
 

 If the USPTO determines that a possible rejection or other issue
 must be addressed, the examiner will telephone the applicant to discuss the issue
 and any possible amendment or submission to resolve such issue. The USPTO will not
 issue an Office action (other than a notice of allowance) unless either: (A) an
 interview was conducted but did not result in the application being placed in
 condition for allowance; or (B) there is a determination that an interview is
 unlikely to result in the application being placed in condition for allowance.
 Furthermore, prior to the mailing of any Office action rejecting the claims, the
 USPTO will conduct a conference to review the rejections set forth in the Office
 action.
 

 If an Office action other than a notice of allowance is mailed,
 the Office action will set a shortened statutory period of two (2) months.
 Extensions of this shortened statutory period under 37 CFR
 1.136(a) will be permitted. However, filing a petition for
 extension of time will result in the application being taken out of the
 accelerated examination program. Failure to timely file a reply will result in
 abandonment of the application. See subsections V and VI for more information on
 post-allowance and after-final procedures.
 

 IV. REPLY BY APPLICANT A reply to an Office action must be limited to the rejections,
 objections, and requirements made. Any amendment that attempts to: (A) add claims
 which would result in more than three independent claims or more than twenty total
 claims pending in the application; (B) present claims not encompassed by the
 preexamination search (see subsection I, item (H) above) or an updated accelerated
 examination support document (see next paragraph); or (C) present claims that are
 directed to a nonelected invention or an invention other than previously claimed
 in the application, will be treated as not fully responsive and will not be
 entered. See subsection VIII.D. below for more information. 
 

 For any amendment to the claims (including any new claim) that is
 not encompassed by the accelerated examination support document in subsection I,
 item (I) above, applicant is required to provide an updated accelerated
 examination support document that encompasses the amended or new claims at the
 time of filing the amendment. Failure to provide such updated accelerated
 examination support document at the time of filing the amendment will cause the
 amendment to be treated as not fully responsive and to not be entered. See
 subsection VIII.D. below for more information. Any IDS filed with an updated
 accelerated examination support document must also comply with the requirements of
 37 CFR
 1.97 and 1.98 .
 

 Any reply or other papers must be filed electronically via the
 USPTO patent electronic filing system so that the papers will be expeditiously
 processed and considered. If the papers are not filed electronically via the USPTO
 patent electronic filing system, or the reply is not fully responsive, the final
 disposition of the application may occur later than twelve months from the filing
 of the application.
 

 V. POST-ALLOWANCE PROCESSING The mailing of a notice of allowance is the final disposition for
 purposes of the twelve-month goal for the accelerated examination program. In
 response to a notice of allowance, applicant must pay the issue fee within three
 months from the date of mailing of the Notice of Allowance and Fee(s) Due (form
 PTOL-85) to avoid abandonment of the application. In order for the application to
 be expeditiously issued as a patent, the applicant must also: (A) pay the issue
 fee (and any outstanding fees due) within one month from the mailing date of the
 form PTOL-85; and (B) not file any post-allowance papers that are not required by
 the USPTO (e.g., an amendment under 37 CFR 1.312 that was not
 requested by the USPTO).
 

 VI. AFTER-FINAL AND APPEAL PROCEDURES The mailing of a final Office action or the filing of a notice of
 appeal, whichever is earlier, is the final disposition for purposes of the
 twelve-month goal for the accelerated examination program. Prior to the mailing of
 a final Office action, the USPTO will conduct a conference to review the
 rejections set forth in the final Office action (i.e., the type of conference
 conducted in an application on appeal when the applicant requests a pre-appeal
 brief conference). In order for the application to be expeditiously forwarded to
 the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) for a decision, applicant must:
 (A) promptly file the notice of appeal, appeal brief, and appeal fees; and (B) not
 request a pre-appeal brief conference. A pre-appeal brief conference would not be
 of value in an application under a final Office action because the examiner will
 have already conducted such a conference prior to mailing the final Office action.
 During the appeal process, the application will be treated in accordance with the
 normal appeal procedures (see MPEP Chapter 1200 ). The USPTO
 will continue to treat the application as special under the accelerated
 examination program after the decision by the PTAB.
 

 Any after-final amendment, affidavit, or other evidence filed
 under 37 CFR
 1.116 or 41.33 must also meet the
 requirements set forth in subsection IV above. If applicant files a request for
 continued examination (RCE) under 37 CFR 1.114 with a submission
 and fee, the submission must meet the reply requirements under 37 CFR 1.111 
 (see 37 CFR
 1.114(c) ) and the requirements set forth in subsection IV
 above. The filing of the RCE is a final disposition for purposes of the
 twelve-month goal for the accelerated examination program. The application will
 retain its special status and remain in the accelerated examination program. Thus,
 the examiner will continue to examine the application in accordance with the
 procedures set forth in subsection III above and any subsequent replies filed by
 applicant must meet the requirements of subsection IV above. The goal of the
 accelerated examination program will then be to reach a final disposition of the
 application within twelve months from the filing of the RCE.
 

 VII. PROCEEDINGS OUTSIDE THE NORMAL EXAMINATION PROCESS If an application becomes involved in proceedings outside the
 normal examination process (e.g., a secrecy order, national security review,
 interference, or petitions under 37 CFR 1.181 ,
 1.182 , or 1.183 ), the USPTO will treat
 the application as special under the accelerated examination program before and
 after such proceedings. During those proceedings, however, the application will
 not be accelerated. For example, during an interference proceeding, the
 application will be treated in accordance with the normal interference procedures
 and will not be treated under the accelerated examination program. Once any one of
 these proceedings is completed, the USPTO will process the application
 expeditiously under the accelerated examination program until it reaches final
 disposition, but that may occur later than twelve months from the filing of the
 application.
 

 VIII. MORE INFORMATION 

 A. Eligibility Any non-reissue utility or design application filed under
 35 U.S.C.
 111(a) on or after August 25, 2006 is eligible for the
 accelerated examination program. The following types of filings are
 not eligible for the accelerated examination program:
 

 
 (1) plant applications; 

 (2) reissue applications; 

 (3) applications entering the national stage from an
 international application after compliance with 35 U.S.C.
 371 ;
 

 (4) reexamination proceedings; 

 (5) RCEs under 37 CFR 1.114 (unless
 the application was previously granted special status under the program);
 
 

 (6) petitions to make special based on applicant’s health or
 age (see MPEP § 708.02 ; and
 

 (7) petitions to make special based on
 participation in the PPH pilot program. (see MPEP §
 708.02(c) ).
 

 
 Rather than participating in the accelerated examination
 program, applicants for a design patent may participate in the expedited
 examination program by filing a request in compliance with the guidelines set
 forth in MPEP §
 1504.30 . See 37 CFR 1.155 .
 

 B. Form Applicant should use form PTO/SB/28 for filing a petition to
 make special, other than those based on applicant’s health or age or the PPH
 pilot program. The form is available on the USPTO patent electronic filing
 system and on the USPTO’s website at www.uspto.gov/PatentForms .
 

 C. Conditions for Examination The application must be in condition for examination at the
 time of filing. This means the application must include the following:
 

 
 (1) Basic filing fee, search fee, and examination fee, under
 37 CFR 1.16 (see MPEP §
 607 subsection I);
 

 (2) Application size fee under 37 CFR
 1.16(s) (if the specification and drawings exceed
 100 sheets of paper) (see MPEP § 607 subsection
 II);
 

 (3) An executed inventor’s oath or declaration in compliance
 with 37 CFR 1.63 or 1.64 for each inventor;
 

 (4) A specification (in compliance with 37 CFR
 1.52 ) containing a description ( 37 CFR
 1.71 ) and claims in compliance with
 37 CFR 1.75 ;
 

 (5) A title and an abstract in compliance with
 37 CFR 1.72 ; 
 

 (6) Drawings in compliance with 37 CFR
 1.84 ;
 

 (7) 
 
 • For an application filed prior to
 July 1, 2022 an electronic submissions of “Sequence Listings” or
 computer readable forms (CRFs) of “Sequence Listings” in compliance
 with 37 CFR 1.821(c) or
 (e) ;
 

 • For an application filed on or
 after July 1, 2022 an electronic submission of “Sequence Listing
 XMLs” in compliance with 37 CFR
 1.831 through 1.835 submitted either on read-only optical
 disc(s) in compliance with 37 CFR 1.52(e) 
 or via the USPTO patent electronic filing system in XML format as
 part of an associated file (if applicable);
 

 “Large Tables” submitted in ASCII plain text
 either on read-only optical disc(s) in compliance with
 37 CFR 1.52(e) 
 or via the USPTO patent electronic filing system in compliance with
 37 CFR 1.58(c) et seq., .
 

 
 

 (8) Foreign priority claim under 35 U.S.C. 119(a) -
 (d) identified in the application data sheet (if
 applicable);
 

 (9) Domestic benefit claims under 35 U.S.C.
 119(e) , 120 ,
 121 , 365(c) or
 386(c) in compliance
 with 37 CFR 1.78 (e.g.,
 for applications filed on or after September 16, 2012, the specific
 reference to the prior application must be in an application data sheet
 and for applications filed prior to September 16, 2012, the specific
 reference to the prior application must be submitted in the first
 sentence(s) of the specification or in an application data sheet, and for
 any benefit claim to a non-English language provisional application, the
 application must include a statement that (a) an English language
 translation, and (b) a statement that the translation is accurate, have
 been filed in the provisional application) (if applicable);
 

 (10) English language translation under 37 CFR
 1.52(d) , a statement that the translation is
 accurate, and the processing fee under 37 CFR
 1.17(i) (if the specification is in a non-English
 language);
 

 (11) No preliminary amendments present on the filing date of
 the application; and
 

 (12) No petition that would delay the processing of the
 application. For example, for an application filed prior to September 16,
 2012, no petition under 37 CFR 1.47 for a
 non-signing inventor. For an application filed after September 16, 2012,
 no petition under 37 CFR 1.46(b)(2) to
 designate a person with sufficient proprietary interest as the applicant
 or a petition under 37 CFR 1.78 to accept
 a delayed benefit claim.
 

 
 Furthermore, if the application is a design application, the
 application must also comply with the requirements set forth in
 37 CFR
 1.151 , 1.152 , 1.153 ,
 and 1.154 .
 

 The petition to make special will be dismissed if the
 application omits an item or includes a paper that causes the Office of Patent
 Application Processing (OPAP) to mail a notice during the formality review
 (e.g., a notice of incomplete application, notice to file missing parts, notice
 to file corrected application papers, notice of omitted items, or information
 notice to applicant). The opportunity to perfect a petition (subsection II
 above) does not apply to applications that are not in condition
 for examination on filing. 
 

 D. Reply Not Fully Responsive If a reply to a non-final Office action is not fully
 responsive, but is a bona fide attempt to advance the
 application to final action, the examiner may provide two months for applicant
 to supply the omission or a fully responsive reply. Extensions of this time
 period under 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be permitted. However, filing a
 petition for extension of time will result in the application being taken out
 of the accelerated examination program. Failure to timely file the omission or
 a fully responsive reply will result in abandonment of the application. If the
 reply is not a bona fide attempt or if it is a reply to a
 final Office action, no additional time period will be given. The time period
 set forth in the previous Office action will continue to run.
 

 E. Withdrawal From Accelerated Examination There is no provision for “withdrawal” from special status
 under the accelerated examination program. However, filing a petition for
 extension of time will result in the application being taken out of the
 accelerated examination program. An applicant may abandon the application that
 has been granted special status under the accelerated examination program in
 favor of a continuing application, and the continuing application will not be
 given special status under the accelerated examination program unless the
 continuing application is filed with a petition to make special under the
 accelerated examination program. The filing of an RCE under 37 CFR
 1.114 , however, will not result in an application being
 withdrawn from special status under the accelerated examination program.
 

 F. The Twelve-Month Goal The objective of the accelerated examination program is to
 complete the examination of an application within twelve months from the filing
 date of the application. The twelve-month goal is successfully achieved when
 one of the following final dispositions occurs: 
 

 
 (1) the mailing of a notice of allowance; 

 (2) the mailing of a final Office action; 

 (3) the filing of an RCE; or 

 (4) the abandonment of the application. 

 
 The final disposition of an application, however, may occur
 later than the twelve-month time frame in certain situations (e.g., an IDS
 citing new prior art after the mailing of a first Office action). See
 subsection VII above for more information on other events that may cause
 examination to extend beyond this twelve-month time frame. In any event,
 however, this twelve-month time frame is simply a goal. Any failure to meet the
 twelve-month goal or other issues relating to this twelve-month goal are
 neither petitionable nor appealable matters.
 

 IX. FORM PARAGRAPHS The following form paragraphs may be used for the accelerated
 examination program:
 

 ¶ 7.126.AE Conclusion of Requirement Mailed Without Any Other Office Action
 – Application Under Accelerated Examination
 

 This requirement is subject to the provisions of 37 CFR 1.134 ,
 1.135 
 and 1.136 
 and has a shortened statutory period of TWO (2) MONTHS . This application has been
 granted special status under the accelerated examination program. Extensions of time period
 may be granted under 37 CFR
 1.136(a) . However, filing a petition for extension of time will result
 in the application being taken out of the accelerated examination program. In no case can any extension carry the date for
 reply to this letter beyond the maximum period of SIX MONTHS set by statute ( 35 U.S.C. 133 ). 
 

 The objective of the accelerated examination program is to complete the
 examination of an application within twelve months from the filing date of the application.
 Any reply must be filed electronically via the USPTO patent electronic filing system so that
 the papers will be expeditiously processed and considered. If the reply is not filed
 electronically via the USPTO patent electronic filing system, the final disposition of the
 application may occur later than twelve months from the filing of the application.
 

 Examiner Note:
 
 1. This form paragraph must be
 preceded by form paragraph 7.105 , and should appear at the conclusion of any
 requirement for information mailed without any other Office action. If the requirement
 for information is mailed with an Office action, use form paragraph
 7.125 
 instead.
 

 2. This form paragraph may only be used in an application filed on or
 after August 25, 2006, that has been granted special status under the accelerated
 examination program or other provisions under 37 CFR 1.102(c)(2) or
 (d) .
 

 3. This form paragraph should
 not be used for an application that has been granted special
 status under 37 CFR 1.102(c)(1) 
 on the basis of applicant’s health or age, or the
 Patent Prosecution Highway pilot program.
 
 
 

 ¶ 7.42.08.AE Request for Continued Examination With Submission Filed Under 37
 CFR 1.114 Which Is Not Fully Responsive - Application Under Accelerated
 Examination
 

 Receipt is acknowledged of a request for continued examination under
 37 CFR
 1.114 , including the fee set forth in 37 CFR
 1.17(e) and a submission, filed on [1] . The submission,
 however, is not fully responsive to the prior Office action because [2] . Since
 the submission appears to be a bona fide attempt to provide a complete
 reply to the prior Office action, applicant is given a shortened statutory period of TWO
 (2) MONTHS from the mailing date of this letter, to submit a complete reply. This
 shortened statutory period for reply supersedes the time period set in the prior Office
 action. This application has been granted special status under the accelerated examination
 program. Extensions of this time period may be granted under 37 CFR 1.136(a) .
 However, filing a petition for extension of time will result in the application being taken
 out of the accelerated examination program. In no case can any extension carry the date for reply to this letter beyond the
 maximum period of SIX MONTHS set by statute ( 35 U.S.C. 133 ).
 

 The objective of the accelerated examination program is to complete the
 examination of an application within twelve months from the filing date of the application. To
 meet that objective, any reply must be filed electronically via the USPTO patent electronic
 filing system so that the papers will be expeditiously processed and considered. If the reply
 is not filed electronically via the USPTO patent electronic filing system, the final
 disposition of the application may occur later than twelve months from the filing of the
 application.
 

 Examiner Note:
 
 1. Use this form paragraph to
 acknowledge an RCE filed with the fee and a submission where the submission is not fully
 responsive to the prior Office action. This form paragraph may be used for any RCE filed
 with a submission which is not fully responsive, i.e., an RCE filed after final
 rejection, after allowance, after an Office action under Ex parte
 Quayle , 25 USPQ 74, 453 OG 213 (Comm’r Pat. 1935), or after
 appeal.
 

 2. In bracket 2, identify the
 reasons why the examiner considers the submission not to be fully
 responsive.
 

 3. To be eligible for continued
 examination under 37
 CFR 1.114 , the application must be a utility or plant application
 filed under 35
 U.S.C. 111(a) on or after June 8, 1995, or an international
 application filed under 35 U.S.C. 363 on or after June 8,
 1995 that complies with 35 U.S.C. 371 . The RCE must be filed
 on or after May 29, 2000.
 

 4. This form paragraph may only be used in an application filed on or
 after August 25, 2006, that has been granted special status under the accelerated
 examination program or on other grounds under 37 CFR 1.102(c)(2) or
 (d) . 
 

 5. This form paragraph should
 not be used for an application that has been granted special
 status under 37 CFR
 1.102(c)(1) on the basis of applicant’s health or age, or the
 Patent Prosecution Highway pilot program.
 
 
 

 ¶ 7.51.AE Quayle Action - Application Under Accelerated
 Examination
 

 This application is in condition for
 allowance except for the following formal matters: [1] .
 

 Prosecution on the merits is closed in accordance with the practice under
 Ex parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 OG 213 (Comm’r Pat. 1935).
 

 Since this application has been granted special status under the
 accelerated examination program, a shortened statutory period for reply to this action is set
 to expire TWO (2) MONTHS from the mailing date of this letter. Extensions of this
 time period may be granted under 37 CFR 1.136(a) . However, filing a
 petition for extension of time will result in the application being taken out of the
 accelerated examination program. In no case can any extension carry the date for reply to this letter beyond the maximum period
 of SIX MONTHS set by statute ( 35 U.S.C. 133 ).
 

 The objective of the accelerated examination program is to complete the
 examination of an application within twelve months from the filing date of the application. To
 meet that objective, any reply must be filed electronically via the USPTO patent electronic
 filing system so that the papers will be expeditiously processed and considered. If the reply
 is not filed electronically via the USPTO patent electronic filing system, the final
 disposition of the application may occur later than twelve months from the filing of the
 application.
 

 Examiner Note:
 
 1. Explain the formal matters which
 must be corrected in bracket 1.
 

 2. This form paragraph may only be used in an application filed on or
 after August 25, 2006, that has been granted special status under the accelerated
 examination program or on other grounds under 37 CFR 1.102(c)(2) or
 (d) .
 

 3. This form paragraph should
 not be used for an application that has been granted special
 status under 37 CFR 1.102(c)(1) 
 on the basis of applicant’s health or age, or the
 Patent Prosecution Highway pilot program.
 
 
 

 ¶ 7.70.AE Updated Accelerated Examination Support Document Required for
 Claim Amendments Not Encompassed by Previous Accelerated Examination Support Document(s) –
 Application Under Accelerated Examination
 

 Applicant is reminded that for any amendments to the claims
 (including any new claim) that is not encompassed by the preexamination search and accelerated
 examination support documents previously filed, applicant is required to provide updated
 preexamination search and accelerated examination support documents that encompass the amended
 or new claims at the time of filing the amendment. Failure to provide such updated
 preexamination search and accelerated examination support documents at the time of filing the
 amendment will cause the amendment to be treated as not fully responsive and not to be
 entered. See MPEP § 708.02(a) ,
 subsection VIII.D. for more information. 
 

 If the reply is not fully responsive, the final disposition
 of the application may occur later than twelve months from the filing of the
 application.
 

 Examiner Note:
 
 1. This form paragraph and form paragraph 7.71.AE must be included in every
 Office action, other than a notice of allowance, in an application filed on or after
 August 25, 2006, that has been granted special status under the accelerated examination
 program or on other grounds under 37 CFR 1.102(c)(2) or
 (d) .
 

 2. This form paragraph should not be used for an
 application that has been granted special status under 37 CFR 1.102(c)(1) 
 on the basis
 of applicant’s health or age, or the Patent Prosecution Highway Program (pilot and
 permanent).
 
 
 

 ¶ 7.71.AE Use Of Proper Document and Fee Codes When Filing A Reply
 Electronically Via the USPTO Patent Electronic Filing System– Application Under Accelerated
 Examination
 

 Any reply or other papers must be filed electronically via the USPTO
 patent electronic filing system so that the papers will be expeditiously processed and
 considered. If the papers are not filed electronically via the USPTO patent electronic filing
 system, the final disposition of the application may occur later than twelve months from the
 filing of the application. 
 

 Any reply to this communication filed via the USPTO patent electronic
 filing system must include a document that is filed using the document description of
 “Accelerated Exam - Transmittal amendment/reply.” Applicant is reminded to use proper
 indexing for documents to avoid any delay in processing of follow on papers. Currently
 document indexing is not automated in the USPTO patent electronic filing system and applicant
 must select a particular document description for each attached file. An incorrect document
 description for a particular file may potentially delay processing of the application. A
 complete listing of all document codes currently supported in the USPTO patent electronic
 filing system is available from the USPTO website www.uspto.gov/patents/
 apply/patent-center .
 

 Any payment of fees via the USPTO patent electronic filing system must be
 accompanied by selection of a proper fee code. An improper fee code may potentially delay
 processing of the application. Instructions on payment of fees via the USPTO patent
 electronic filing system are available at www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/fees-and-payment .
 

 Examiner Note:
 
 1. This form paragraph and form
 paragraph 7.70.AE must be included in every Office action, other
 than a notice of allowance, in an application filed on or after August 25, 2006, that
 has been granted special status under the accelerated examination program or on other
 grounds under 37 CFR
 1.102(c)(2) or (d) .
 

 2. This form paragraph should not be used for an application that has
 been granted special status under 37 CFR 1.102(c)(1) on the basis of
 applicant’s health or age, or the Patent Prosecution Highway Program (pilot and
 permanent).
 
 
 

 ¶ 7.84.AE Amendment Is Non-Responsive to Interview – Application Under
 Accelerated Examination
 

 The reply filed on [1] is not fully responsive to the prior
 Office action because it fails to include a complete or accurate record of the substance of
 the [2] interview. [3] Since the above-mentioned reply appears to be
 bona fide, applicant is given a shortened statutory period of TWO
 (2) MONTHS from the mailing date of this notice within which to supply the omission
 or correction in order to avoid abandonment. This application has been granted special status
 under the accelerated examination program. Extensions of this time period may be granted under
 37 CFR
 1.136(a) . However, filing a petition for extension of time will result
 in the application being taken out of the accelerated examination program. In no case can any
 extension carry the date for reply to this letter beyond the maximum period of SIX MONTHS set
 by statute ( 35 U.S.C.
 133 ).
 

 The objective of the accelerated examination program is to complete the
 examination of an application within twelve months from the filing date of the application. To
 meet that objective, any reply must be filed electronically via the USPTO patent electronic
 filing system so that the papers will be expeditiously processed and considered. If the reply
 is not filed electronically via the USPTO patent electronic filing system, the final
 disposition of the application may occur later than twelve months from the filing of the
 application.
 

 Examiner Note:
 
 1. In bracket 2, insert the date of
 the interview.
 

 2. In bracket 3, explain the
 deficiencies.
 

 3. This form paragraph may only be used in an application filed on or
 after August 25, 2006, that has been granted special status under the accelerated
 examination program or on other grounds under 37 CFR 1.102(c)(2) or
 (d) .
 

 4. This form paragraph should
 not be used for an application that has been granted special
 status under 37 CFR
 1.102(c)(1) on the basis of applicant’s health or age, or the
 Patent Prosecution Highway pilot program.
 
 
 

 ¶ 7.84.01.AE Paper Is Unsigned – Application Under Accelerated
 Examination
 

 The proposed reply filed on [1] has not been entered because
 it is unsigned. Since the above-mentioned reply appears to be bona fide, 
 applicant is given a shortened statutory period of TWO (2) MONTHS within which to
 supply the omission or correction in order to avoid abandonment. This application has been
 granted special status under the accelerated examination program. Extensions of this time
 period may be granted under 37 CFR 1.136(a) . However, filing a petition for extension of time will
 result in the application being taken out of the accelerated examination program. In no case
 can any extension carry the date for reply to this letter beyond the maximum period of SIX
 MONTHS set by statute ( 35
 U.S.C. 133 ).
 

 The objective of the accelerated examination program is to complete the
 examination of an application within twelve months from the filing date of the application. To
 meet that objective, any reply must be filed electronically via EFS-Web so that the papers
 will be expeditiously processed and considered. If the reply is not filed electronically via
 EFS-Web, the final disposition of the application may occur later than twelve months from the
 filing of the application.
 

 Examiner Note:
 
 1. Examiner should first try to
 contact applicant by telephone and ask for a properly signed reply or ratification of
 the reply. If attempts to contact applicant are unsuccessful, examiner may use this form
 paragraph in a letter requiring a properly signed reply or ratification if the reply is
 to a non-final Office action.
 

 2. This form paragraph may only be used in an application filed on or
 after August 25, 2006, that has been granted special status under the accelerated
 examination program or on other grounds under 37 CFR 1.102(c)(2) or
 (d) .
 

 3. This form paragraph should
 not be used for an application that has been granted special
 status under 37 CFR
 1.102(c)(1) on the basis of applicant’s health or age, or the
 Patent Prosecution Highway pilot program.
 
 
 

 ¶ 7.95.AE Bona Fide, Non-Responsive Amendments – Application Under
 Accelerated Examination
 

 The reply filed on [1] is not fully responsive to the prior
 Office action because of the following omission(s) or matter(s): [2] . See
 37 CFR
 1.111 . Since the above-mentioned reply appears to be bona
 fide, applicant is given a shortened statutory period of TWO (2)
 MONTHS from the mailing date of this notice within which to supply the omission or
 correction in order to avoid abandonment. This application has been granted special status
 under the accelerated examination program. Extensions of this time period may be granted under
 37 CFR
 1.136(a) . However, filing a petition for extension of time will result
 in the application being taken out of the accelerated examination program. In no case can any
 extension carry the date for reply to this letter beyond the maximum period of SIX MONTHS set
 by statute ( 35 U.S.C.
 133 ).
 

 The objective of the accelerated examination program is to complete the
 examination of an application within twelve months from the filing date of the application. To
 meet that objective, any reply must be filed electronically via the USPTO patent electronic
 filing system so that the papers will be expeditiously processed and considered. If the reply
 is not filed electronically via the USPTO patent electronic filing system, the final
 disposition of the application may occur later than twelve months from the filing of the
 application.
 

 Examiner Note:
 
 1. This practice does not apply
 where there has been a deliberate omission of some necessary part of a complete reply,
 or where the application is subject to a final Office action. Under such cases, the
 examiner has no authority to grant an extension if the period for reply has expired. See
 form paragraph 7.91 .
 

 2. This form paragraph may only be used in an application filed on or
 after August 25, 2006, that has been granted special status under the accelerated
 examination program or on other grounds under 37 CFR 1.102(c)(2) or
 (d) .
 

 3. This form paragraph should
 not be used for an application that has been granted special
 status under 37 CFR
 1.102(c)(1) on the basis of applicant’s health or age, or the
 Patent Prosecution Highway pilot program.
 
 
 

 ¶ 8.26.AE Canceled Elected Claims, Non-Responsive – Application Under
 Accelerated Examination
 

 The amendment filed on [1] canceling all claims drawn to the
 elected invention and presenting only claims drawn to a non-elected invention is
 non-responsive ( MPEP §
 821.03 ) and has not been entered. The remaining claims are not
 readable on the elected invention because [2] .
 

 Since the above-mentioned amendment appears to be a bona
 fide attempt to reply, applicant is given a shortened statutory period of
 TWO (2) MONTHS from the mailing date of this notice within which to supply the
 omission or correction in order to avoid abandonment. This application has been granted
 special status under the accelerated examination program. Extensions of time under
 37 CFR
 1.136(a) are available. However, filing a petition for extension of time
 will result in the application being taken out of the accelerated examination program. In no
 case can any extension carry the date for reply to this letter beyond the maximum period of
 SIX MONTHS set by statute ( 35 U.S.C. 133 ).
 

 The objective of the accelerated examination program is to complete the
 examination of an application within twelve months from the filing date of the application. To
 meet that objective, any reply must be filed electronically via the USPTO patent electronic
 filing system so that the papers will be expeditiously processed and considered. If the reply
 is not filed electronically via the USPTO patent electronic filing system, the final
 disposition of the application may occur later than twelve months from the filing of the
 application.
 

 Examiner Note:
 
 1. This form paragraph should only be used in an application filed on
 or after August 25, 2006, that has been granted special status under the accelerated
 examination program or on other grounds under 37 CFR 1.102(c)(2) or
 (d) .
 

 2. This form paragraph should
 not be used for an application that has been granted special
 status under 37 CFR 1.102(c)(1) 
 on the basis of applicant’s health or age, or the
 Patent Prosecution Highway pilot program.
 
 
 

 ¶ 19.02.AE Requirement for Information – Application Under Accelerated
 Examination
 

 The protest under 37 CFR 1.291 filed on [1] has
 been considered. In order to reach a full and proper consideration of the issues raised
 therein, it is necessary to obtain additional information from applicant regarding these
 issues. In particular [2] . The failure to reply to this requirement for
 information within TWO (2) MONTHS of the mailing date of this requirement will
 result in abandonment of the application. This application has been granted special status
 under the accelerated examination program. Extensions of time under 37 CFR 1.136(a) are
 available. However, filing a petition for extension of time will result in the application
 being taken out of the accelerated examination program. In no case can any extension carry the
 date for reply to this letter beyond the maximum period of SIX MONTHS set by statute
 ( 35 U.S.C.
 133 ).
 

 The objective of the accelerated examination program is to complete the
 examination of an application within twelve months from the filing date of the application. To
 meet that objective, any reply must be filed electronically via the USPTO patent electronic
 filing system so that the papers will be expeditiously processed and considered. If the reply
 is not filed electronically via the USPTO patent electronic filing system, the final
 disposition of the application may occur later than twelve months from the filing of the
 application.
 

 Examiner Note:
 
 1. While the examiner normally
 should not need further information from applicant, this form paragraph may be used to
 request specific additional information from the applicant. 
 

 2. This form paragraph may only be used in an application filed on or
 after August 25, 2006, that has been granted special status under the accelerated
 examination program or on other grounds under 37 CFR 1.102(c)(2) or
 (d) .
 

 3. This form paragraph should
 not be used for an application that has been granted special
 status under 37 CFR
 1.102(c)(1) on the basis of applicant’s health or age, or the
 Patent Prosecution Highway pilot program.
 
 
 

 

 
 708.02(b) Prioritized Examination [R-01.2024]

 
 37 CFR 1.102 Advancement of examination. 

 *****

 
 (e) A request for prioritized examination
 under this paragraph must comply with the requirements of this paragraph and
 be accompanied by the prioritized examination fee set forth in §
 1.17(c) , the processing
 fee set forth in § 1.17(i) , and if not
 already paid, the publication fee set forth in § 1.18(d) . An application for which prioritized
 examination has been requested may not contain or be amended to contain more
 than four independent claims, more than thirty total claims, or any multiple
 dependent claim. Prioritized examination under this paragraph will not be
 accorded to international applications that have not entered the national
 stage under 35 U.S.C. 371 , design
 applications, reissue applications, provisional applications, or
 reexamination proceedings. A request for prioritized examination must also
 comply with the requirements of paragraph (e)(1) or paragraph (e)(2) of this
 section. No more than 15,000 requests for such prioritized examination will
 be accepted in any fiscal year.
 
 (1) A request for prioritized
 examination may be filed with an original utility or plant
 nonprovisional application under 35 U.S.C.
 111(a) . The application must include a
 specification as prescribed by 35 U.S.C. 112 
 including at least one claim, a drawing when necessary, and the
 inventor’s oath or declaration on filing, except that the filing of an
 inventor’s oath or declaration may be postponed in accordance with §
 1.53(f)(3) if an
 application data sheet meeting the conditions specified in §
 1.53(f)(3)(i) is
 present upon filing. If the application is a utility application, it
 must be filed via the USPTO patent electronic filing system and
 include the filing fee under § 1.16(a) , search
 fee under § 1.16(k) , and
 examination fee under § 1.16(o) upon
 filing. If the application is a plant application, it must include the
 filing fee under § 1.16(c) , search
 fee under § 1.16(m) , and
 examination fee under § 1.16(q) upon
 filing. The request for prioritized examination in compliance with
 this paragraph must be present upon filing of the application, except
 that the applicant may file an amendment to cancel any independent
 claims in excess of four, any total claims in excess of thirty, and
 any multiple dependent claim not later than one month from a first
 decision on the request for prioritized examination. This one-month
 time period is not extendable.
 

 (2) A request for prioritized
 examination may be filed with or after a request for continued
 examination in compliance with § 1.114 . If the
 application is a utility application, the request must be filed via
 the USPTO patent electronic filing system. The request must be filed
 before the mailing of the first Office action after the filing of the
 request for continued examination under § 1.114 . Only a single such request for
 prioritized examination under this paragraph may be granted in an
 application.
 

 
 

 
 

 Section 11(h) of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act
 provides for prioritized examination whereby applicants may request prioritized
 examination upon payment of appropriate fees and compliance with certain
 requirements.
 

 Under prioritized examination, an application will be
 accorded special status until a final disposition is reached in the application. The
 goal for handling applications under prioritized examination is to provide, on
 average, a final disposition within twelve months of prioritized status being
 granted. Prioritized examination is available at the time of filing an original
 utility or plant application under 35 U.S.C. 111(a) , as set forth in
 37 CFR
 1.102(e)(1) . This is referred to as 
 "Track
 One"
 
 
 prioritized examination. An
 
 "original"
 
 
 application includes a
 continuing application (i.e., a continuation, continuation-in-part, or divisional
 application) but does not include reissue applications. In addition, a single request
 for prioritized examination may be granted for a request for continued examination
 (RCE) in a plant or utility application, including an application that has entered
 the national stage under 35 U.S.C. 371 , as set forth in
 37 CFR
 1.102(e)(2) . This type of prioritized examination is referred
 to as 
 "prioritized examination for requests for continued
 examination"
 
 
 (PE-RCE). The Office maintains a
 
 "Quick Start Guide"
 
 
 that illustrates how to
 file an electronic request for prioritized examination at www.uspto.gov/sites/default/ files/documents/track_
 one_quick_start_guide_11-24-2013.pdf .
 

 To maximize the benefit of prioritized examination,
 applicants should consider one or more of the following: (A) acquiring a good
 knowledge of the state of the prior art to be able to file the application with a
 clear specification having a complete schedule of claims from the broadest which the
 applicant believes is patentable in view of the prior art to the narrowest which the
 applicant is willing to accept; (B) submitting an application in condition for
 examination; (C) filing replies that are completely responsive to an Office action
 and within the shortened statutory period for reply set in the Office action; and (D)
 being prepared to conduct interviews with the examiner. The phrase “in condition for
 examination” in this context means the same as it does with respect to the current
 accelerated examination program, which is discussed in MPEP § 708.02(a) ,
 subsection VIII.C.
 

 Until further notice, the Office will accept no more
 than 15,000 requests for prioritized examination in any fiscal year. Statistical
 findings about prioritized examination, including statistics concerning the Office’s
 ability to meet its stated goals for the program are available to the public on the
 Office’s Internet website at www.uspto.gov/patents/ init_events/Track_One.jsp .
 

 I. REQUIREMENTS FOR REQUESTING PRIORITIZED EXAMINATION The requirements for requesting prioritized
 examination are set forth below. A request must meet the general requirements
 specified in subsection I.A. below, and also meet the specific requirements for
 either subsection I.B. (for a newly filed application) or subsection I.C. (for a
 request for continued examination).
 

 A. General Requirements 

 1. Type of Application The application must be a utility or plant
 nonprovisional application, including a continuing application (i.e., a
 continuation, continuation-in-part, or divisional application). The
 procedure for prioritized examination does not apply to design applications,
 reissue applications, provisional applications, or reexamination
 proceedings. The procedure for prioritized examination does not apply to
 international applications that have entered the national stage under
 35
 U.S.C. 371 , except that such an application may
 undergo prioritized examination if an RCE is filed (see I.C. below). A
 continuing application will not automatically be given prioritized
 examination status based on a request filed in the parent application; each
 application (including each continuing application) must, on its own, meet
 all requirements for prioritized examination under 37 CFR
 1.102(e) . A utility or plant nonprovisional
 application filed under 35 U.S.C. 111(a) may
 claim priority to a foreign application under 35 U.S.C. 119(a) - (d) or
 (f) and remain eligible for prioritized
 examination.
 

 2. Fees Upon filing the request for prioritized
 examination, the following fees must be paid for the application: 
 

 
 (A) the prioritized examination fee set forth
 in 37 CFR 1.17(c) ,
 
 

 (B) the processing fee set forth in
 37 CFR 1.17(i)(1) ,
 
 

 (C) the publication fee set forth in
 37 CFR 1.18(d) ,
 

 (D) the basic filing fee set forth in
 37 CFR 1.16(a) , or for a plant application,
 37 CFR 1.16(c) ,
 

 (E) the search fee set forth in
 37 CFR 1.16(k) , or for a plant application,
 37 CFR 1.16(m) , and
 

 (F) the examination fee set forth in
 37 CFR 1.16(o) . 
 

 
 Small entity and micro entity fee reductions
 are available for many of the above fees; see the current fees at
 www.uspto.gov/Fees . Note that a fee may be set by the
 USPTO to $0, and in such a case, that fee is considered to be paid and no
 additional payment is necessary for that fee. If any fee is unpaid at the
 time of filing of the application, the request for prioritized examination
 will be dismissed. However, if an explicit authorization to charge any
 additional required fees has been provided in the papers accompanying the
 application and the request, the fees will be charged in accordance with the
 authorization, and the request will not be dismissed for nonpayment of fees.
 
 

 3. Claims The application must contain, or be amended to
 contain, no more than four independent claims and no more than thirty total
 claims. In addition, the application must not contain any multiple dependent
 claims. After prioritized examination has been granted in an application, an
 amendment that results in more than four independent claims or thirty total
 claims, or a multiple dependent claim, will result in termination of
 prioritized examination.
 

 4. Yearly Limit The request for prioritized examination may be
 accepted if the requirements under 37 CFR
 1.102(e) are satisfied and the limit for the number of
 requests for the year has not been reached. The number of granted requests
 for prioritized examination under 37 CFR
 1.102(e) is limited to a maximum of 15,000 per fiscal
 year. The Office posts statistics, including the number of granted
 prioritized examination requests, on its website at www.uspto.gov/
 aia_implementation/patents.jsp . In addition, the Office
 will post a message in the USPTO patent electronic filing system if/when the
 number of granted requests is close to the limit. If the limit is reached,
 the Office will turn off the ability to file a request for prioritized
 examination in the USPTO patent electronic filing system.
 

 5. Additional Requirements Additional requirements must be met depending
 on whether prioritized examination is requested upon filing of a new
 application (Track One), see subsection I.B. or incident to filing a request
 for continued examination (PE-RCE), see subsection I.C.
 

 It is strongly recommended that applicants use
 the Office’s certification and request form PTO/AIA/424 to request prioritized
 examination, but the form is not required. The form is available through USPTO
 patent electronic filing system and on the Office’s Internet website at
 www.uspto.gov/PatentForms . Failure to use form PTO/AIA/424
 could result in the Office not recognizing the request or delays in processing
 the request. If applicant decides to use an applicant-created form for
 requesting prioritized examination, applicant’s form should be an equivalent to
 the Office’s form.
 

 Any item submitted on the same day the request for
 prioritized examination is filed will be considered to have been filed with the
 request under 37 CFR 1.102(e) .
 

 B. Prioritized Examination for Application Filings under 35 U.S.C.
 111(a) (Track One) A newly filed patent application may be granted
 Track One prioritized examination status if it meets the general conditions in
 subsection I.A. above, and the additional following conditions:
 

 1. Type of Application The application must be a utility or plant
 nonprovisional application, including a continuing application (i.e., a
 continuation, continuation-in-part, or divisional application), filed under
 35
 U.S.C. 111(a) on or after September 26, 2011. The
 application must be filed via the USPTO patent electronic filing system if
 it is a utility application. Plant applications must be filed in paper. Due
 to the need to limit the number of applications in the prioritized
 examination program in its initial stages, applications entering the
 national stage under 35 U.S.C. 371 are not
 eligible at the time of entry; see subsection I.C. below for prioritized
 examination of national stage entries under 35 U.S.C.
 371 in which as RCE has been filed. However, an
 applicant who has filed an international application may participate in the
 prioritized examination program by filing a by-pass continuation; i.e., a
 new application filed in the United States under 35 U.S.C.
 111(a) that claims the benefit of the earlier
 international application under 35 U.S.C. 365(c) , rather
 than entering the national stage under 35 U.S.C. 371 . In such a
 case, it is not necessary that the earlier international application have
 been filed in English in order to request prioritized examination of the
 111(a) application; however, a translation is
 required in accordance with 37 CFR 1.52(b)(1) . 
 

 2. Disclosure and Inventor’s Oath or Declaration A proper request for prioritized examination
 must include, on filing, a specification as prescribed by 35 U.S.C.
 112 including at least one claim, and a drawing when
 necessary. The application must be filed with an executed application data
 sheet meeting the conditions specified in 1.53(f)(3)(i) , or with the inventor’s oath or
 declaration (under 37 CFR 1.63 and
 1.64 ) executed for each inventor. Such an application
 data sheet must include the legal name, mailing address, and residence (if
 not residing at the mailing address) for each inventor. Note that filing an
 application without the inventor’s oath or declaration requires payment of
 the surcharge set forth in 37 CFR 1.16(f) .
 

 3. Claims The application must contain no more than four
 independent claims and no more than thirty total claims. If, at the time the
 request for prioritized examination is considered by the USPTO, the
 application does not meet this requirement, applicant will be notified of
 the deficiency through a decision on the request, which will provide one
 month for applicant to amend the claims consistent with the requirements for
 prioritized examination. In order to reduce Office processing and ensure
 that patent application publications are printed correctly, the Office
 strongly encourages applicants to file applications without any preliminary
 amendments.
 

 4. Fees The application must be filed with the basic
 filing fee, the search fee, and the examination fee. If applicable, any
 excess claims fees due because the number of independent claims exceeds
 three, as set forth in 37 CFR 1.16(h) , and any
 excess claim fee due because the number of claims exceeds twenty, as set
 forth in 37 CFR 1.16(i) , and any
 application size fee due because the specification and drawings exceed 100
 sheets of paper, as set forth in 37 CFR
 1.16(s) , must be paid before Track One status will be
 granted. If, at the time the request for prioritized examination is
 considered by the USPTO, any of these three fees are required but have not
 been paid, applicant will be notified of the deficiency through a decision
 on the request. These three fees must be paid not later than one month from
 a first decision on the request for prioritized examination.
 

 A nonpublication request under
 35
 U.S.C. 122(b)(2)(B)(i) may be submitted together with
 a request for prioritized examination. However, the publication fee set
 forth in 37 CFR 1.18(d) still must be paid upon request for
 prioritized examination. If the application is not published, a refund of
 the publication fee may be requested as provided in subsection III below and
 in MPEP §
 1126 .
 

 Color drawings may be filed with new
 nonprovisional utility patent applications under 35 U.S.C.
 111(a) and in U.S. national stage applications under
 35 U.S.C.
 371 applications through Patent Center; see
 MPEP §
 502.05 , subsection VIII. See also the Legal Framework
 for Patent Electronic System (( www.uspto.gov/PatentLegalFramework ) (October 2019)). A
 petition is still required for entry of color drawings; see
 MPEP §
 608.02 subsection VIII.
 

 If applicant discovers that a required item has
 been inadvertently omitted from the application filing, a follow-on submission
 may be filed, but only if the follow-on submission is submitted on the same day
 that the utility application and the prioritized examination request form are
 filed. For example, if an inventor’s oath or declaration or the filing fees are
 inadvertently omitted when the application is filed via the USPTO patent
 electronic filing system, then applicant may submit the inventor’s oath or
 declaration or the filing fees as a follow-on submission directly into the
 application on the same day as the filing date of the application. Applicants
 are also reminded that only registered users of the USPTO patent electronic
 filing system can submit follow-on documents via the USPTO patent electronic
 filing system and that follow-on documents are documents filed after the
 initial submission of the application. Thus, applicant would need to be a
 registered user of the USPTO patent electronic filing system to submit such a
 follow-on document on the same day the application was filed. See also
 MPEP §
 502.05 , subsection III. D. for examples describing
 implications raised when applicant inadvertently omits an item when filing an
 application electronically.
 

 Applicants may receive a notice regarding
 informalities in their application (e.g., a notice to file corrected
 application papers because the application papers are not in compliance with
 37 CFR
 1.52 ) which will delay a decision on the request for
 prioritized examination; however, the request for prioritized examination may
 still be granted if the request is otherwise compliant with 37 CFR
 1.102(e)(1) . Any pre-examination notice from the Office
 of Patent Application Processing will delay a decision on the request for
 prioritized examination until after applicant has filed a complete and timely
 reply to the pre-examination notice. Any request for an extension of time,
 including an extension of time for the purpose of responding to a
 pre-examination notice (e.g., Notice to File Missing Parts), will cause the
 application to be ineligible for further treatment under the prioritized
 examination program. A request for an extension of time prior to the grant of
 prioritized examination status will prevent such status from being granted. 
 

 If the request for prioritized examination is
 dismissed, applicant can file a petition under 37 CFR
 1.181 if applicant believes that a decision dismissing
 the request for prioritized examination is not proper. Applicant should review
 the reason(s) stated in the decision dismissing the request and make a
 determination that an error was made by the Office in not granting the request
 before filing such a petition under 37 CFR 1.181 . Applicant may
 not refile a request for Track One prioritized examination in order to correct
 a deficiency in the request because a proper request for Track One prioritized
 examination (i.e., for prioritized examination of a newly-filed utility or
 plant application under 35 U.S.C. 111(a) and not
 for an RCE) requires that the request be included upon filing.
 

 C. Prioritized Examination of an Application for a Request for
 Continued Examination (PE-RCE) A pending patent application in which a request
 for continued examination has been filed may be granted PE-RCE prioritized
 examination status under the following conditions:
 

 1. Type of Application The application must be a non-reissue utility
 or plant nonprovisional application filed under 35 U.S.C.
 111(a) , or that has entered the national stage under
 35
 U.S.C. 371 .
 

 2. Fees The publication fee set forth in
 37 CFR
 1.18(d) must be paid for the application, either
 previously or with the request for prioritized examination. Note that a fee
 may be set by the USPTO to $0, and in such a case, that fee is considered to
 be paid and no additional payment is necessary for that fee.
 

 3. Timing of the Request The PE-RCE request may be filed concurrently
 with, or subsequently to, the filing of a request for continued examination
 (RCE). However, the PE-RCE request must be filed before the mailing of the
 first Office action after the filing of the RCE. The conditions for filing
 an RCE are set forth in 37 CFR 1.114 .
 Prosecution must be closed; i.e., the application is under appeal, the last
 Office action is a final action ( 37 CFR 1.113 ), a notice
 of allowance has been issued ( 37 CFR 1.311 ), or there
 has been an action that otherwise closes prosecution in the application. Any
 request for prioritized examination of an application in which there has
 been a request for continued examination is premised on the existence of a
 properly filed RCE. Prioritized examination will not be granted in an
 application where the RCE does not meet the requirements of
 37 CFR
 1.114 .
 

 4. Number of Requests Only a single such request for prioritized
 examination for a request for continued examination may be granted in an
 application. The prioritized examination program permits a single request to
 be granted under 37 CFR 1.102(e)(1) upon
 filing a new application under 35 U.S.C. 111(a) , and a
 single request to be granted under 37 CFR
 1.102(e)(2) upon filing a request for continued
 examination under 37 CFR 1.114 .
 

 Applicant may file a petition under
 37 CFR
 1.181 if applicant believes a decision dismissing a
 PE-RCE request is not proper. Applicant should review the reason(s) stated in
 the decision dismissing the PE-RCE request and make a determination that an
 error was made by the Office in not granting the request before filing such a
 petition under 37 CFR 1.181 .
 Alternatively, applicant may choose to correct the deficiencies in the PE-RCE
 request by filing a new PE-RCE request for that same RCE. The new PE-RCE
 request must include any required fees and be timely; i.e., it must be filed
 prior to the mailing of a first Office action after the filing of the RCE. 
 

 II. PROSECUTION OF AN APPLICATION UNDER PRIORITIZED EXAMINATION The time periods set for reply in Office actions for
 applications undergoing prioritized examination will be the same as set forth in
 MPEP §
 710.02(b) . Where, however, an applicant files a petition
 for an extension of time to file a reply or files a request for suspension of
 action, the petition or request will be acted upon, but the prioritized
 examination of the application will be terminated. In addition, filing an
 amendment to the application which results in more than four independent claims,
 more than thirty total claims, or a multiple dependent claim will terminate the
 prioritized examination. Upon termination of prioritized examination, the
 application will be removed from the examiner’s special docket and placed on the
 examiner’s regular docket in accordance with its stage of prosecution.
 

 The goal of the Office is to provide a final
 disposition within twelve months, on average, of the date that prioritized status
 was granted. The final disposition for the twelve-month goal means that within
 twelve months from the date prioritized status has been granted that one of the
 following occur: (A) mailing of a notice of allowance; (B) mailing of a final
 Office action; (C) filing of a notice of appeal; (D) completion of examination as
 defined in 37
 CFR 41.102 ; (E) filing of a request for continued
 examination; or (F) abandonment of the application. An application under
 prioritized examination, therefore, would not be accorded special status during
 appeal or interference before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), or after
 the filing of a request for continued examination. As noted above, the submission
 of an amendment resulting in more than four independent claims or more than thirty
 total claims is not prohibited, but simply terminates the prioritized examination.
 Thus, upon mailing of a final rejection (at which point prioritized examination is
 terminated), applicants may amend the claims to place them in independent form
 where dependent claims were found allowable, or add new claims, subject only to
 the limitations applicable to any application under final rejection. See
 37 CFR
 1.116 . Similarly, upon mailing of a notice of allowance,
 applicants may submit amendments to the claims, again subject only to the
 limitations applicable to any application that has been allowed. See
 37 CFR
 1.312 . A patent that issues will not contain any indication
 on its face that it was processed via prioritized examination.
 

 III. REFUND OF FEES If a request for prioritized examination is
 dismissed, the prioritized examination fee set forth in 37 CFR
 1.17(c) will be refunded. This fee will be refunded
 automatically (if paid) without the need for applicant to request such a refund.
 The processing fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(i) will be
 retained to cover the cost of processing the request. In accordance with
 37 CFR
 1.26 , the application fees, including the basic filing fee,
 search fee, examination fee, and any required application size or excess claim
 fees cannot be refunded. Applicant may, however, request a refund of the search
 fee and any excess claims fees by filing a petition for express abandonment of the
 application in accordance with 37 CFR 1.138(d) . Furthermore,
 applicant may request a refund of the publication fee in accordance with
 MPEP §
 1126 if the application is not published under
 35 U.S.C.
 122(b) .
 

 As the termination of prioritized examination does
 not cause the prioritized examination fee to have been paid by mistake or in an
 amount in excess of that required, the termination of prioritized examination will
 not entitle the applicant to a refund of the prioritized examination fee. See
 35 U.S.C.
 42(d) and 37 CFR 1.26(a) .
 

 

 
 708.02(c) Patent Prosecution Highway Program [R-07.2015]

 The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) speeds up the
 examination process for corresponding applications filed in participating patent
 offices. Under PPH, participating patent offices have agreed that when an applicant
 receives a final ruling from a first patent office that at least one claim is
 allowed, the applicant may request fast track examination of corresponding claim(s)
 in a corresponding patent application that is pending in a second patent office. PPH
 leverages fast-track examination procedures already in place among participating
 patent offices to allow applicants to reach final disposition of a patent application
 more quickly and efficiently than standard examination processing.
 

 The USPTO participates in the Global PPH and IP5 PPH
 pilot programs, and also has PPH agreements with several intellectual property
 offices that are not yet included in the Global PPH. See www.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/pph/index.jsp for details and
 forms to request participation in, and to petition to make an application special
 under, the PPH program.
 

 

 

 
 708.03 Examiner Tenders Resignation [R-11.2013]

 Whenever an examiner tenders his or her resignation, the supervisory
 patent examiner should see that the remaining time as far as possible is used in winding
 up prosecution in those applications with complex issues or involved records that the
 examiner is already familiar with (e.g., applications with RCEs and continuation
 applications) and getting as many of his or her amended cases as possible ready for
 final disposition.
 

 

 [top] 

 

 

 
 

 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 701-Statutory Authority for Examination 

 702-Requisites of the Application 
 702.01-Obviously Informal Cases 

 
 

 703-[Reserved] 

 704-Search and Requirements for Information 
 704.01-Search 

 704.02-704.09-[Reserved] 

 704.10-Requirements for Information 

 704.11-What Information May Be Required 
 704.11(a)-Examples of Information Reasonably Required 

 704.11(b)-When May a Requirement for Information Be Made 

 
 

 704.12-Replies to a Requirement for Information 
 704.12(a)-Relationship of Requirement for Information to Duty of Disclosure 

 704.12(b)-What Constitutes a Complete Reply 

 704.12(c)-Treatment of an Incomplete Reply 

 
 

 704.13-Time Periods for Reply 

 704.14-Making a Requirement for Information 
 704.14(a)-Format of the Requirement 

 704.14(b)-Examiner’s Obligation Following Applicant’s Reply 

 704.14(c)-Petitions to Requirements Under 37 CFR 1.105 

 704.14(d)-Relationship to Information Disclosure Statements 

 
 

 
 

 705-Patentability Reports 
 705.01-Instructions re Patentability Reports 
 705.01(a)-Nature of P.R., Its Use and Disposal 

 705.01(b)-Sequence of Examination 

 705.01(c)-Counting and Recording P.R.s 

 705.01(d)-[Reserved] 

 705.01(e)-Limitation as to Use 

 705.01(f)-Interviews With Applicants 

 
 

 
 

 706-Rejection of Claims 
 706.01-Contrasted With Objections 

 706.02-Rejection on Prior Art 
 706.02(a)-[Reserved] 
 706.02(a)(1)-[Reserved] 

 706.02(a)(2)-[Reserved] 

 
 

 706.02(b)-[Reserved] 
 706.02(b)(1)-[Reserved] 

 706.02(b)(2)-[Reserved] 

 
 

 706.02(c)-[Reserved] 
 706.02(c)(1) -[Reserved] 

 706.02(c)(2)-[Reserved] 

 
 

 706.02(d)-[Reserved] 

 706.02(e)-[Reserved] 

 706.02(f)-[Reserved] 
 706.02(f)(1)-[Reserved] 

 706.02(f)(2)-[Reserved] 

 
 

 706.02(g)-[Reserved] 

 706.02(h)-[Reserved] 

 706.02(i)-[Reserved] 

 706.02(j)-[Reserved] 

 706.02(k)-[Reserved] 

 706.02(l)-[Reserved] 
 706.02(l)(1)-[Reserved] 

 706.02(l)(2)-[Reserved] 

 706.02(l)(3)-[Reserved] 

 
 

 706.02(m)-[Reserved] 

 706.02(n)-[Reserved] 

 
 

 706.03-Rejections Not Based on Prior Art 
 706.03(a)-[Reserved] 

 706.03(b)-[Reserved] 

 706.03(c)-[Reserved] 

 706.03(d)-[Reserved] 

 706.03(e)-[Reserved] 

 706.03(f) - 706.03(j)-[Reserved] 

 706.03(k)-[Reserved] 

 706.03(l) - 706.03(n)-[Reserved] 

 706.03(o)-[Reserved] 

 706.03(p) - 706.03(r)-[Reserved] 

 706.03(s)-[Reserved] 

 706.03(t)-[Reserved] 

 706.03(u)-[Reserved] 

 706.03(v)-[Reserved] 

 706.03(w)-[Reserved] 

 706.03(x)-[Reserved] 

 706.03(y)-[Reserved] 

 
 

 706.04-Rejection of Previously Allowed Claims 

 706.05-Rejection After Allowance of Application 

 706.06-Rejection of Claims Copied From Patent 

 706.07-Final Rejection 
 706.07(a)-Final Rejection, When Proper on Second Action 

 706.07(b)-Final Rejection, When Proper on First Action 

 706.07(c)-Final Rejection, Premature 

 706.07(d)-Final Rejection, Withdrawal of, Premature 

 706.07(e)-Withdrawal of Final Rejection, General 

 706.07(f)-Time for Reply to Final Rejection 

 706.07(g)-Transitional After-Final Practice 

 706.07(h)-Request for Continued Examination (RCE) Practice 

 
 

 
 

 707-Examiner’s Letter or Action 
 707.01-Primary Examiner Indicates Action for New Assistant 

 707.02-Applications Up for Third Action and 5-Year Applications 

 707.03‑707.04-[Reserved] 

 707.05-Citation of References 
 707.05(a)-Copies of Cited References 

 707.05(b)-Citation of Related Art and Information by Applicants 

 707.05(c)-Order of Listing 

 707.05(d)-Reference Cited in Subsequent Actions 

 707.05(e)-Data Used in Citing References 

 707.05(f)-Non-Patent Documents Having a Lengthy Citation 

 707.05(g)-Incorrect Citation of References 

 
 

 707.06-Citation of Decisions, Orders Memorandums, and Notices 

 707.07-Completeness and Clarity of Examiner’s Action 
 707.07(a)-Complete Action on Formal Matters 

 707.07(b) - 707.07(c)-[Reserved] 

 707.07(d)-Language To Be Used in Rejecting Claims 

 707.07(e)-Note All Outstanding Requirements 

 707.07(f)-Answer All Material Traversed 

 707.07(g)-Piecemeal Examination 

 707.07(h)-Notify of Inaccuracies in Amendment 

 707.07(i)-Each Claim To Be Mentioned in Each Office Action 

 707.07(j)-State When Claims Are Allowable 

 707.07(k)-Numbering Paragraphs 

 707.07(l)-Comment on Examples 

 
 

 707.08-Reviewing and Initialing by Assistant Examiner 

 707.09-Signing by Primary or Other Authorized Examiner 

 707.10-Entry 

 707.11-Date 

 707.12-Mailing 

 707.13-Returned Office Action 

 
 

 708-Order of Examination 
 708.01-List of Special Cases 

 708.02-Petition To Make Special 
 708.02(a)-Accelerated Examination 

 708.02(b)-Prioritized Examination 

 708.02(c)-Patent Prosecution Highway Program 

 
 

 708.03-Examiner Tenders Resignation 

 
 

 709-Suspension of Action 
 709.01-Overlapping Applications by Same Applicant or Owned by Same Assignee 

 
 

 710-Period for Reply 
 710.01-Statutory Period 
 710.01(a)-Statutory Period, How Computed 

 
 

 710.02-Shortened Statutory Period and Time Limit Actions Computed 
 710.02(a)-[Reserved] 

 710.02(b)-Shortened Statutory Period: Situations in Which Used 

 710.02(c)-Specified Time Limits: Situations in Which Used 

 710.02(d)-Difference Between Shortened Statutory Periods for Reply and Specified Time Limits 

 710.02(e)-Extension of Time 

 
 

 710.03-[Reserved] 

 710.04-Two Periods Running 
 710.04(a)-Copying Patent Claims 

 
 

 710.05-Period Ending on Saturday, Sunday, or a Federal Holiday 

 710.06-Situations When Reply Period Is Reset or Restarted 

 
 

 711-Abandonment of Patent Application 
 711.01-Express or Formal Abandonment 

 711.02-Failure To Take Required Action During Statutory Period 
 711.02(a)-Insufficiency of Reply 

 711.02(b)-Special Situations Involving Abandonment 

 711.02(c)-Termination of Proceedings 

 
 

 711.03-Reconsideration of Holding of Abandonment; Revival 
 711.03(a)-Holding Based on Insufficiency of Reply 

 711.03(b)-Holding Based on Failure To Reply Within Period 

 711.03(c)-Petitions Relating to Abandonment 

 711.03(d)-Examiner’s Statement on Petition To Set Aside Examiner’s Holding 

 
 

 711.04-Public Access to Abandoned Applications 
 711.04(a)-Date of Abandonment 

 711.04(b)-Ordering of Patented and Abandoned Files 

 711.04(c)-Notifying Applicants of Abandonment 

 
 

 711.05-Letter of Abandonment Received After Application Is Allowed 

 711.06-Abstracts, Abbreviatures, and Defensive Publications 
 711.06(a)-Citation and Use of Abstracts, Abbreviatures, and Defensive Publications as References 

 
 

 
 

 712-[Reserved] 

 713-Interviews 
 713.01-General Policy, How Conducted 

 713.02-Interviews Prior to First Official Action 

 713.03-Interview for “Sounding Out” Examiner Not Permitted 

 713.04-Substance of Interview Must Be Made of Record 

 713.05-Interviews Prohibited or Granted, Special Situations 

 713.06-No Inter Partes Questions Discussed Ex Parte 

 713.07-Exposure of Other Cases 

 713.08-Demonstration, Exhibits, Models 

 713.09-Interviews Between Final Rejection and Notice of Appeal 

 713.10-Interview Preceding Filing Amendment Under 37 CFR 1.312 

 
 

 714-Amendments, Applicant’s Action 
 714.01-Signatures to Amendments 
 714.01(a)-Unsigned or Improperly Signed Amendment 

 714.01(b)-[Reserved] 

 714.01(c)-Signed by Attorney or Agent Not of Record 

 714.01(d)-Amendment Signed by Applicant but Not by Attorney or Agent of Record 

 714.01(e)-Amendments Before First Office Action 

 
 

 714.02-Must Be Fully Responsive 

 714.03-Amendments Not Fully Responsive, Action To Be Taken 
 714.03(a)-Supplemental Amendment 

 
 

 714.04-Claims Presented in Amendment With No Attempt To Point Out Patentable Novelty 

 714.05-Examiner Should Immediately Review 

 714.06-[Reserved] 

 714.07-Amendments Not in Permanent Ink 

 714.08-714.09-[Reserved] 

 714.10-Claims Added in Excess of Claims Previously Paid For 

 714.11-Amendment Filed During Interference Proceedings 

 714.12-Amendments and Other Replies After Final Rejection or Action 

 714.13-Amendments and Other Replies After Final Rejection or Action, Procedure Followed 

 714.14-Amendments After Allowance of All Claims 

 714.15-Amendment Received in Technology Center After Mailing of Notice of Allowance 

 714.16-Amendment After Notice of Allowance, 37 CFR 1.312 
 714.16(a)-Amendments Under 37 CFR 1.312, Copied Patent Claims 

 714.16(b)-Amendments Under 37 CFR 1.312 Filed With a Motion Under 37 CFR 41.208 

 714.16(c)-Amendments Under 37 CFR 1.312, Additional Claims 

 714.16(d)-Amendments Under 37 CFR 1.312, Handling 

 714.16(e)-Amendments Under 37 CFR 1.312, Entry in Part 

 
 

 714.17-Amendment Filed After the Period for Reply Has Expired 

 714.18-Entry of Amendments 

 714.19-List of Amendments, Entry Denied 

 714.20-List of Amendments Entered in Part 

 714.21-Amendments Inadvertently Entered, No Legal Effect 

 714.22-714.24-[Reserved] 

 714.25-Discourtesy of Applicant or Attorney 

 
 

 715-Swearing Behind a Reference — Affidavit or Declaration Under 37 CFR 1.131(a) 
 715.01-37 CFR 1.131(a) Affidavits Versus 37 CFR 1.132 Affidavits 
 715.01(a)-Reference Is a Patent or Published Application Naming Different Inventive Entity With at Least One Common Inventor 

 715.01(b)-Reference and Application Have Common Assignee 

 715.01(c)-Reference Is Publication of Inventor’s Own Invention 

 715.01(d)-Activities Applied Against the Claims 

 
 

 715.02-How Much of the Claimed Invention Must Be Shown, Including the General Rule as to Generic Claims 

 715.03-Genus-Species, Practice Relative to Cases Where Predictability Is in Question 

 715.04-Who May Make Affidavit or Declaration Under 37 CFR 1.131(a); Formal Requirements of Affidavits and Declarations 

 715.05-U.S. Patent or Application Publication Claiming Same Invention 

 715.06-[Reserved] 

 715.07-Facts and Documentary Evidence 
 715.07(a)-Diligence 

 715.07(b)-Interference Testimony Sometimes Used 

 715.07(c)-Acts Relied Upon Must Have Been Carried Out in This Country or a NAFTA or WTO Member Country 

 715.07(d)-Disposition of Exhibits 

 
 

 715.08-Decided by Primary Examiner 

 715.09-Timely Presentation 

 715.10-Review of Affidavit or Declaration for Evidence of Prior Public Use or Sale or Failure to Disclose Best Mode 

 
 

 716-Affidavits or Declarations Under 37 CFR 1.132 and Other Evidence Traversing Rejections 
 716.01-Generally Applicable Criteria 
 716.01(a)-Objective Evidence of Nonobviousness 

 716.01(b)-Nexus Requirement and Evidence of Nonobviousness 

 716.01(c)-Probative Value of Objective Evidence 

 716.01(d)-Weighing Objective Evidence 

 
 

 716.02-Allegations of Unexpected Results 
 716.02(a)-Evidence Must Show Unexpected Results 

 716.02(b)-Burden on Applicant 

 716.02(c)-Weighing Evidence of Expected and Unexpected Results 

 716.02(d)-Unexpected Results Commensurate in Scope With Claimed Invention 

 716.02(e)-Comparison With Closest Prior Art 

 716.02(f)-Advantages Disclosed or Inherent 

 716.02(g)-[Reserved] 

 
 

 716.03-Commercial Success 
 716.03(a)-Commercial Success Commensurate in Scope With Claimed Invention 

 716.03(b)-Commercial Success Derived From Claimed Invention 

 
 

 716.04-Long-Felt Need and Failure of Others 

 716.05-Skepticism of Experts 

 716.06-Copying 

 716.07-Inoperability of References 

 716.08-Utility and Operability of Applicant’s Disclosure 

 716.09-Sufficiency of Disclosure 

 716.10-Attribution Affidavit or Declaration to Overcome Rejection Under Pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 or 103 

 
 

 717-Prior Art Exceptions under AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(1) and (2) 
 717.01-Affidavit or Declaration Under 37 CFR 1.130 
 717.01(a) -Declarations or Affidavits under 37 CFR 1.130(a) – Attribution 
 717.01(a)(1) -Evaluation of Declarations or Affidavits under 37 CFR 1.130(a) 

 
 

 717.01(b) -Declarations or Affidavits under 37 CFR 1.130(b) – Prior Public Disclosure 
 717.01(b)(1) -Evaluation of Declarations or Affidavits under 37 CFR 1.130(b) 

 717.01(b)(2) -Determining if the Subject Matter of the Intervening Disclosure is the Same as the Subject Matter of the Inventor–Originated
 Prior Public Disclosure 

 
 

 717.01(c) -Who May Make Affidavit or Declaration; Formal Requirements of Affidavits and Declarations 

 717.01(d)-U.S. Patent or Application Publication Claiming Same Invention 

 717.01(e) -Passed Upon (or Decided by) by Primary Examiner 

 717.01(f) -Seasonable (or Timely) Presentation 

 
 

 717.02 -Prior Art Exception for Commonly Owned or Joint Research Agreement Subject Matter under AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) 
 717.02(a) -Invoking the Prior Art Exception under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) 

 717.02(b) -Evaluating Whether the Prior Art Exception under AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) is Properly Invoked 

 717.02(c) -Examination Procedure With Respect to the Prior Art Exception under AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) 

 717.02(d) -Form Paragraphs With Respect to the Prior Art Exception under AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) 

 
 

 
 

 718-Affidavit or Declaration to Disqualify Commonly Owned Patent as Prior Art, 37 CFR 1.131(c) 

 719-File Wrapper 
 719.01-Papers in Image File Wrapper 

 719.02-Residence of Inventor Changed 

 719.03-Classification During Examination 

 719.04-Index of Claims 

 719.05-Field of Search 

 
 

 720-Public Use Proceedings 

 721‑723-[Reserved] 

 724-Trade Secret, Proprietary, and Protective Order Materials 
 724.01-Completeness of the Patent File Wrapper 

 724.02-Method of Submitting Trade Secret, Proprietary, and/or Protective Order Materials 

 724.03-Types of Trade Secret, Proprietary, and/or Protective Order Materials Submitted Under MPEP § 724.02 

 724.04-Office Treatment and Handling of Materials Submitted Under MPEP § 724.02 
 724.04(a)-Materials Submitted in an Application Covered by 35 U.S.C. 122 

 724.04(b)-Materials Submitted in Reissue Applications Open to the Public Under 37 CFR 1.11(b) 

 724.04(c)-Materials Submitted in Reexamination File Open to the Public Under 37 CFR 1.11(d) 

 
 

 724.05-Petition To Expunge Information or Copy of Papers in Application File 

 724.06-Handling of Petitions To Expunge Information or Copy of Papers in Application File 

 
 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 
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