MPEP § 203 — MPEP § 203
Current through: 2022-07-01

203-Status of Applications 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 Chapter 0200 

 Section 203 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 203 Status of Applications [R-11.2013]

 
 203.01 New [R-11.2013]

 A “new” application is a nonprovisional application that
 has not yet received an action by the examiner. An amendment filed prior to the first
 Office Action does not alter the status of a “new” application. Note that a request for
 continued examination (RCE)(see 37 CFR 1.114 ) is not a type of new
 application filing. See MPEP § 706.07(h) .
 

 

 
 203.02 Rejected [R-08.2012]

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

 

 
 203.03 Amended [R-08.2012]

 An “amended” nonprovisional application is one that having
 been acted on by the examiner, has in turn been acted on by the applicant in reply to
 the examiner’s action. The applicant’s reply may be confined to an election, a traverse
 of the action taken by the examiner or may include an amendment of the application.
 

 

 
 203.04 Allowed or in Issue [R-07.2015]

 An “allowed” nonprovisional application or an application
 “in issue” is one which has been examined and determined to meet all statutory
 requirements, and in which a notice of allowance has been sent to the applicant. Its
 status as an “allowed” application continues from the date of the notice of allowance
 until it issues as a patent, unless it is withdrawn from issue ( 37 CFR 1.313 ), or
 becomes abandoned for failure to pay the issue fee and any required publication fee
 ( 37 CFR
 1.314 and 1.316 ). 
 

 

 
 203.05 Abandoned [R-11.2013]

 An abandoned application is, inter
 alia, one which is removed from the Office docket of pending
 applications:
 

 
 (A) through formal abandonment by the applicant or by
 the attorney or agent of record;
 

 (B) through failure of applicant to take appropriate
 action at some stage in the prosecution of a nonprovisional application;
 

 (C) for failure to pay the issue fee
 ( MPEP §
 711 to § 711.05 ); or
 

 (D) in the case of a provisional application, no later
 than 12 months after the filing date of the provisional application (see
 MPEP §
 711.03(c) and 35 U.S.C. 111(b)(5) ).
 

 
 

 
 203.06 Incomplete [R-08.2012]

 An application that is not entitled to a filing date
 (e.g., for lacking some of the essential parts) is termed an incomplete application.
 ( MPEP §
 506 and § 601.01(d) - (g) ).
 

 

 

 
 203.07 [Reserved] [R-]

 

 

 
 203.08 Status Inquiries [R-01.2024]
 I. IN GENERAL Status information relating to patent applications is
 available through the USPTO patent electronic filing system (Patent Center, which has
 a private view and a public view). Patent Center public view provides access to all
 issued patents and published patent applications. Private view allows registered
 users to access application information that has not been made public in addition to
 what is also available in public view. Viewing non-public information in Patent
 Center private view requires that the application or patent be associated with the
 viewer’s Customer Number. See MPEP § 403 for Customer Number
 practice. 
 

 Applicants and other persons seeking status information
 regarding an application should check Patent Center on the Office website at
 www.uspto.gov/PatentCenter . Alternatively, the requester may
 contact the Application Assistance Unit (AAU) (see MPEP § 1730 ,
 subsection VI.C.). The AAU will check the relevant Office records and will inform the
 requester whether the application has been published or has issued as a patent. If
 the application has been published, the AAU will inform the requester of the
 publication number and publication date, and if the application has issued as a
 patent, the AAU will inform the requester of the patent number, issue date and
 classification. If the application has not been published, but is pending or
 abandoned then the AAU determines whether the requester is entitled to such
 information. See MPEP §
 102 for additional information.
 

 If the correspondent is not entitled to the
 information, in view of 37 CFR 1.14 , the correspondent
 should be so informed.
 

 For Congressional and other official inquiries, see
 MPEP §
 203.08(a) .
 

 II. NEW APPLICATION A Notice of Allowability, Form PTOL-37, is routinely
 mailed in every application determined to be allowable. Thus, the mailing of a form
 PTOL-37 in addition to a formal Notice of Allowance and Fee(s) Due (PTOL-85) in all
 allowed applications would seem to obviate the need for status inquiries even as a
 precautionary measure where the applicant may believe the new application may have
 been passed to issue on the first examination. However, as an exception, a status
 inquiry would be appropriate where a Notice of Allowance (PTOL-85) is not received
 within three months from receipt of form PTOL-37.
 

 III. AMENDED APPLICATIONS Amended applications are expected to be taken up by the
 examiner and an action completed within two months of the date the examiner receives
 the application. Accordingly, a status inquiry is not in order after reply by the
 attorney until 5 or 6 months have elapsed with no response from the Office. However,
 in the event that a six month period has elapsed, and no response from the Office is
 received, applicant should inquire as to the status of the application to avoid
 potential abandonment. 
 

 Applicants are encouraged to use Patent Center to make
 status inquiries. See subsection I, above. A stamped postcard receipt or Electronic
 Acknowledgement Receipt for replies to Office actions, adequately and specifically
 identifying the papers filed, will be considered prima facie proof of receipt of such
 papers. See MPEP § 503 . Where such proof
 indicates the timely filing of a reply, the submission of a copy of the postcard or
 Electronic Acknowledgement Receipt with a copy of the reply will ordinarily obviate
 the need for a petition to revive. Proof of receipt of a timely reply to a final
 action will obviate the need for a petition to revive only if the reply was in
 compliance with 37
 CFR 1.113 . See also www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/
 checking-application-status/e-office-action-program .
 

 
 203.08(a) Congressional and Other Official Inquiries [R-08.2017]

 Correspondence and inquiries from the White House,
 Members of Congress, embassies, and heads of Executive departments and agencies
 normally are cleared by the USPTO’s Office of Policy and International Affairs and/or
 the Office of Governmental Affairs.
 

 Inquiries referred to in this section such as
 correspondence from embassies, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and the
 Department of State should immediately be transmitted to the Administrator of the
 Office of Policy and International Affairs, and a staff member of that office should
 be notified by phone that such correspondence has been received at 571-272-9300.
 Inquiries referred to in this section such as correspondence from Congress or the
 White House should immediately be transmitted to the Director of the Office of
 Governmental Affairs, and a staff member of that office should be notified by phone
 that such correspondence has been received at 571-272-7300.
 

 This procedure is used so that there will be uniformity
 in the handling of contacts from the indicated sources, and also so that compliance
 with directives of the Department of Commerce is attained.
 

 

 

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 201-Types of Applications 
 201.01-National Applications 

 201.02-General Terms Used to Describe Applications 

 201.03-[Reserved] 

 201.04-Provisional Application 

 201.05-Reissue Application 

 201.06-Divisional Application 
 201.06(a)-Former 37 CFR 1.60 Divisional Continuation Procedure 

 201.06(b)-Former 37 CFR 1.62 File Wrapper Continuing Procedure 

 201.06(c)-37 CFR 1.53(b) and 37 CFR 1.63(d) Divisional-Continuation Procedure 

 201.06(d)-37 CFR 1.53(d) Continued Prosecution Application (CPA) Practice 

 
 

 201.07-Continuation Application 

 201.08-Continuation-in-Part Application 

 
 

 202-Cross-Noting 

 203-Status of Applications 
 203.01-New 

 203.02-Rejected 

 203.03-Amended 

 203.04-Allowed or in Issue 

 203.05-Abandoned 

 203.06-Incomplete 

 203.07-[Reserved] 

 203.08-Status Inquiries 
 203.08(a)-Congressional and Other Official Inquiries 

 
 

 
 

 204‑209-[Reserved] 

 210-Priority to, or the Benefit of, the Filing Date of a Prior-Filed Application 

 211-Claiming the Benefit of an Earlier Filing Date Under 35 U.S.C. 120 and 119(e) 
 211.01-Requirements Related to the Prior-Filed Application 
 211.01(a)-Claiming the Benefit of a Provisional Application 

 211.01(b)-Claiming the Benefit of a Nonprovisional Application 

 211.01(c)-Claiming the Benefit of an International Application Designating the United States 

 211.01(d)-Claiming the Benefit of an International Design Application Designating the United States 

 
 

 211.02-Reference to Prior Application(s) 
 211.02(a)-Correcting or Adding a Benefit Claim After Filing 

 
 

 211.03-Time Period for Making a Claim for Benefit Under 37 CFR 1.78 

 211.04-Delayed Benefit Claims 

 211.05-Sufficiency of Disclosure in Prior-Filed Application 

 
 

 212-[Reserved] 

 213-Right of Priority of Foreign Application 
 213.01-Recognized Countries and Regional Patent Offices of Foreign Filing 

 213.02-Formal Requirements Relating to Foreign Priority Application 

 213.03-Time for Filing U.S. Nonprovisional Application 

 213.04-Requirement to File Priority Claim and Certified Copy During Pendency of Application 

 213.05-Right of Priority Based Upon an Application for an Inventor’s Certificate 

 213.06-Claiming Priority and Filing a Certified Copy in a National Stage Application (35 U.S.C. 371) 

 213.07-Claiming Priority and Filing a Certified Copy in a Nonprovisional International Design Application 

 
 

 214-Formal Requirements of Claim for Foreign Priority 
 214.01-Time for Filing Priority Claim 

 214.02-Unintentionally Delayed Priority Claims 

 214.03-Office Acknowledgement of Priority Claims 

 214.04-Proper Identification of Priority Application in Foreign Priority Claim 

 
 

 215-Certified Copy of Foreign Application 
 215.01-Electronic Priority Document Exchange 

 215.02-Time For Filing Certified Copy – Application Filed On or After March 16, 2013 
 215.02(a)-Timeliness Requirement – Met By Priority Document Exchange 

 215.02(b)-Timeliness Requirement – Met By Interim Copy of Foreign Application 

 
 

 215.03-Time For Filing Certified Copy – Application Filed Before March 16, 2013 

 
 

 216-Entitlement to Priority 
 216.01-Perfecting Claim for Priority Under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) or (f) After Issuance of a Patent 

 
 

 217-Incorporation by Reference Under 37 CFR 1.57(b) 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 
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 Last Modified: 
 
 03/09/2026 20:50:39