MPEP § 1455 — MPEP § 1455
Current through: 2022-07-01

1455-Allowance and Issue 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 Manual of Patent Examining Procedure 

 Chapter 1400 

 Section 1455 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 1455 Allowance and Issue [R-07.2022]
 I. ISSUE CLASSIFICATION The examiner completes the Issue Classification information in the same
 manner as for a non-reissue application. In addition, a copy of an internal review form
 must also be completed.
 

 II. CHANGES TO THE ORIGINAL PATENT The specifications of reissue patents will be printed in such a manner
 as to show the changes over the original patent text by enclosing any material omitted
 by the reissue in heavy brackets [ ] and printing material added by the reissue in
 italics. 37 CFR
 1.173 (see MPEP § 1411 ) requires the specification
 of a reissue application to be presented in a specified form, specifically designed to
 facilitate this different manner of printing, as well as for other reasons. 
 

 The printed reissue patent specification will carry the following
 heading, which will be added by the Office of Data Management:
 

 
 "Matter enclosed in heavy brackets [ ] appears in the original
 patent but forms no part of this reissue specification; matter printed in italics
 indicates the additions made by reissue.”
 

 
 The examiners should see that the specification is in proper form for
 printing. Examiners should carefully check the entry of all amendments to ensure that
 the changes directed by applicant will be accurately printed in any reissue patent that
 may ultimately issue. Matter appearing in the original patent which is omitted by
 reissue should be enclosed in brackets, while matter added by reissue should be
 underlined. Any material added by amendment in the reissue application (as underlined
 text) which is later canceled should be crossed through, and not
 bracketed. Material canceled from the original patent should be enclosed in
 brackets, and not lined through. 

 All the claims of the original patent should appear in the reissue
 patent, with canceled patent claims being enclosed in brackets.
 

 III. CLAIM NUMBERING No renumbering of the original patent claims is permitted, even if the
 dependency of a dependent patent claim is changed by reissue so that it is to be
 dependent on a subsequent higher numbered claim.
 

 When a dependent claim in a reissue application depends upon a claim
 which has been canceled, and the dependent claim is not thereafter made dependent upon a
 pending claim, such a dependent claim must be rewritten in independent form.
 

 New claims added during the prosecution of the reissue application
 should follow the number of the highest numbered patent claim and should be completely
 underlined to indicate they are to be printed in italics on the printed patent. Often,
 as a result of the prosecution and examination, some new claims are canceled while other
 new claims remain. When the reissue application is allowed, any claims remaining which
 are additional to the patent claims (i.e., claims added via the reissue application)
 should be renumbered in sequence starting with the number next higher than the number of
 the last claim in the original patent (the printed patent). Therefore, the number of
 claims allowed will not necessarily correspond to the number of the last claim in the
 reissue application, as allowed. The number of claims appearing in the
 
 "Total Claims Allowed"
 
 
 box on
 the Issue Classification sheet at the time of allowance should be consistent with the
 number of claims indicated as allowable on the Notice of Allowability (Form PTOL-37).
 
 

 IV. CLAIM DESIGNATED FOR PRINTING At least one claim of an allowable reissue application must be
 designated for printing in the Official Gazette. Whenever at least
 one claim has been amended or added in the reissue, the claim (claims) designated for
 printing must be (or include) a claim which has been changed or added by the reissue. A
 canceled claim is not to be designated as the claim for the Official
 Gazette. 

 If there is no change in the claims of the allowable reissue
 application (i.e., when they are the same as the claims of the original patent) or, if
 the only change in the claims is the cancellation of claims, then the most
 representative pending allowed claim is designated for printing in
 the Official Gazette. 

 V. PROVIDING PROPER FORMAT Where a reissue application has not been prepared in the
 above-indicated manner, the examiner may obtain from the applicant a clean copy of the
 reissue specification prepared in the indicated form, or a proper submission of a
 previously improperly submitted amendment. However, if the deletions from the original
 patent are small, the reissue application can be prepared for issue by putting the
 bracketed inserts at the appropriate places and suitably numbering the added claims. 
 

 When applicant submits a clean copy of the reissue specification, or a
 proper submission of a previous improper amendment, a supplemental reissue declaration
 should not be provided to address this submission, because the correction
 of format does not correct a 35 U.S.C. 251 error in the patent.
 
 

 VI. PARENT APPLICATION DATA All parent application data on the bibliographic data sheet of the
 original patent file (or front face of the original patent file wrapper if the original
 patent is a paper file) should be present on the bibliographic data sheet of the reissue
 application.
 

 It sometimes happens that the reissue is a continuation reissue
 application of another reissue application, and there is also original-patent parent
 application data. The examiner should ensure that the parent application data on the
 original patent is properly combined with the parent application data of the reissue, in
 the text of the specification (if present therein) and on the bibliographic data sheet.
 The combined statement as to parent application data should be checked carefully for
 proper bracketing and underlining.
 

 VII. REFERENCES CITED AND PRINTED The examiner should list on a PTO-892 form any reference that was cited
 during the original prosecution of the patent which is again cited/applied in the
 reissue application. It is noted that the Office will not print in the reissue patent
 
 "References Cited"
 
 
 section
 any reference cited in the patent but not again cited in the reissue application.
 Accordingly, should an applicant wish to ensure that all of the references which were
 cited in the original patent are cited in the reissue application, an information
 disclosure statement (IDS) in compliance with 37 CFR 1.97 and
 1.98 should be filed in the reissue application. A patent cannot
 be reissued solely for the purpose of adding citations of additional prior art.
 

 VIII. EXAMINER'S AMENDMENT AND REISSUE OATH OR DECLARATION When it is necessary to amend the reissue application in order to place
 the application in condition for allowance, the examiner may:
 

 
 (A) request that applicant provide the amendments (e.g., by
 electronic filing or by hand-carry); or 
 

 (B) make the amendments, with the applicant’s approval, by a formal
 examiner’s amendment.
 

 
 If the changes are made by a formal examiner’s amendment, the
 entire paragraph(s) or claim(s) being amended need to be presented
 with appropriate markings for any deletions or additions. The exception for an
 examiner’s amendment set forth in 37 CFR 1.121(g) does not apply to
 examiner’s amendments in reissue applications.
 

 For applications filed on or after September 16, 2012, if additional
 defects or errors are corrected in the reissue after the filing of the reissue oath or
 declaration, a supplemental reissue oath or declaration is not required. However, where
 all errors previously identified in the reissue oath/declaration are no longer being
 relied upon as the basis for reissue, the applicant must explicitly identify on the
 record an error being relied upon as the basis for reissue (e.g., in the remarks
 accompanying an amendment). See 37 CFR 1.175(d) . Identification of
 the error must be conspicuous and clear, and must comply with 35 U.S.C. 251 . 
 

 If the reissue application was filed before September 16,
 2012 and the amendment corrects an “error” under 35 U.S.C. 251 , then a supplemental
 oath or declaration will be required. See MPEP §
 1414.03 and MPEP § 1444 . The examiner should
 telephone applicant and request the supplemental oath or declaration, which must be
 filed before the application can be counted as an allowance.
 

 IX. FINAL REVIEW OF THE REISSUE APPLICATION BY THE EXAMINER Before forwarding a reissue application to the Technology Center (TC)
 Training Quality Assurance Specialist (TQAS) or Supervisory Patent Reexamination
 Specialist (SPRS) for final review, the examiner should complete and initial an Examiner
 Reissue Checklist. A copy of the checklist should be available from the TQAS or
 SPRS.
 

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 1400.01-Introduction 

 1401-Reissue 

 1402-Grounds for Filing 

 1403-Diligence in Filing 

 1404-Submission of Papers Where Reissue Patent Is in Litigation 

 1405-Reissue and Patent Term 

 1406-Citation and Consideration of References Cited in Original Patent 

 1407-1409-[Reserved] 

 1410-Content of Reissue Application 
 1410.01-Reissue Applicant and Inventor's Oath or Declaration 

 1410.02-Assignee Consent to the Reissue 

 
 

 1411-Form of Specification 
 1411.01-Certificate of Correction or Disclaimer in Original Patent 

 1411.02-New Matter 

 
 

 1412-Content of Claims 
 1412.01-Reissue Claims Must Be for Same General Invention 

 1412.02-Recapture of Canceled Subject Matter 

 1412.03-Broadening Reissue Claims 

 1412.04-Correction of Inventorship By Reissue 

 1412.05-Correction of Inventorship in a Broadening Reissue Application 

 
 

 1413-Drawings 

 1414-Content of Reissue Oath/Declaration 
 1414.01-Reissue Oath or Declaration in Reissue Application Filed On or After September 16, 2012 

 1414.02-Reissue Oath or Declaration in Reissue Application Filed Before September 16, 2012 

 1414.03-Supplemental Reissue Oath/Declaration 

 
 

 1415-Reissue Application and Issue Fees 
 1415.01-Maintenance Fees on the Original Patent 

 
 

 1416-No Physical Surrender of Original Patent 

 1417-Claim for Priority Under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) 

 1418-Notification of Prior/Concurrent Proceedings and Decisions Thereon, and of Information Known To Be Material to Patentability 

 1419-1429-[Reserved] 

 1430-Reissue Files Open to the Public and, Notice of Filing Reissue Announced in, Official Gazette 

 1431-1439-[Reserved] 

 1440-Examination of Reissue Application 

 1441-Two-Month Delay Period 
 1441.01-Protest and Pre-issuance Submission in Reissue Applications 

 
 

 1442-Special Status 
 1442.01-Litigation-Related or PTAB Trial-Related Reissues 

 1442.02-Concurrent Litigation or Trial Before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board 

 1442.03-Litigation Stayed 

 1442.04-Litigation Involving Patent 

 1442.05-Court Ordered Filing of Reissue Application 

 
 

 1443-Initial Examiner Review 

 1444-Review of Reissue Oath/Declaration 

 1445-Reissue Application Examined in Same Manner as Original Application 

 1446-1447-[Reserved] 

 1448-Fraud, Inequitable Conduct, or Duty of Disclosure Issues 

 1449-Protest Filed in Reissue Where Patent Is in Interference or Contested Case 
 1449.01-Concurrent Office Proceedings 

 1449.02-Interference in Reissue 

 1449.03-Reissue Application in Derivation Proceeding 

 
 

 1450-Restriction and Election of Species Made in Reissue Application 

 1451-Divisional Reissue Applications; Continuation Reissue Applications Where the Parent is Pending 

 1452-Request for Continued Examination of Reissue Application 

 1453-Amendments to Reissue Applications 

 1454-Appeal Brief 

 1455-Allowance and Issue 

 1456-Reissue Review 

 1457-Design Reissue Applications and Patents 

 1458-1459-[Reserved] 

 1460-Effect of Reissue 

 1461-1469-[Reserved] 

 1470-Public Access to Reissue Applications 

 1471-1479-[Reserved] 

 1480-Certificates of Correction — Office Mistake 
 1480.01-Expedited Issuance of Certificates of Correction - Error Attributable to Office 

 
 

 1481-Certificates of Correction - Applicant’s Mistake 
 1481.01-Correction of Assignees’ Names 

 1481.02-Correction of Named Inventor 

 1481.03-Correction of 35 U.S.C. 119 and 35 U.S.C. 120 Benefits 

 
 

 1482-1484-[Reserved] 

 1485-Handling of Request for Certificates of Correction 

 1486-1489-[Reserved] 

 1490-Disclaimers 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 
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 Last Modified: 
 
 03/09/2026 20:50:35