MPEP 707

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707 Examiner's Letter or Action[edit | edit source]

37 CFR 1.104. Nature of examination.


(a)Examiner’s action.

(1)On taking up an application for examination or a patent in a reexamination proceeding, the examiner shall make a thorough study thereof and shall make a thorough investigation of the available prior art relating to the subject matter of the claimed invention. The examination shall be complete with respect both to compliance of the application or patent under reexamination with the applicable statutes and rules and to the patentability of the invention as claimed, as well as with respect to matters of form, unless otherwise indicated.

(2)The applicant, or in the case of a reexamination proceeding, both the patent owner and the requester, will be notified of the examiner’s action. The reasons for any adverse action or any objection or requirement will be stated in an Office action and such information or references will be given as may be useful in aiding the applicant, or in the case of a reexamination proceeding the patent owner, to judge the propriety of continuing the prosecution.

(3)An international-type search will be made in all national applications filed on and after June 1, 1978.

(4)Any national application may also have an international- type search report prepared thereon at the time of the national examination on the merits, upon specific written request therefor and payment of the international-type search report fee set forth in § 1.21(e). The Patent and Trademark Office does not require that a formal report of an international-type search be prepared in order to obtain a search fee refund in a later filed international application.

(b)Completeness of examiner’s action. The examiner’s action will be complete as to all matters, except that in appropriate circumstances, such as misjoinder of invention, fundamental defects in the application, and the like, the action of the examiner may be limited to such matters before further action is made. However, matters of form need not be raised by the examiner until a claim is found allowable.

(c)Rejection of claims.

(1)If the invention is not considered patentable, or not considered patentable as claimed, the claims, or those considered unpatentable will be rejected.

(2)In rejecting claims for want of novelty or for obviousness, the examiner must cite the best references at his or her command. When a reference is complex or shows or describes inventions other than that claimed by the applicant, the particular part relied on must be designated as nearly as practicable. The pertinence of each reference, if not apparent, must be clearly explained and each rejected claim specified.

(3)In rejecting claims the examiner may rely upon admissions by the applicant, or the patent owner in a reexamination proceeding, as to any matter affecting patentability and, insofar as rejections in applications are concerned, may also rely upon facts within his or her knowledge pursuant to paragraph (d)(2) of this section.

(4)Subject matter which is developed by another person which qualifies as prior art only under 35 U.S.C. 102(e), (f) or (g) may be used as prior art under 35 U.S.C. 103 against a claimed invention unless the entire rights to the subject matter and the claimed invention were commonly owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person at the time the claimed invention was made.

(i)Subject matter developed by another person and a claimed invention shall be deemed to have been commonly owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person in any application and in any patent granted on or after December 10, 2004, if:

(A)The claimed invention and the subject matter was made by or on behalf of parties to a joint research agreement that was in effect on or before the date the claimed invention was made;

(B)The claimed invention was made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of the joint research agreement; and

(C)The application for patent for the claimed invention discloses or is amended to disclose the names of the parties to the joint research agreement.

(ii)For purposes of paragraph (c)(4)(i) of this section, the term “joint research agreement” means a written contract, grant, or cooperative agreement entered into by two or more persons or entities for the performance of experimental, developmental, or research work in the field of the claimed invention.

(iii)To overcome a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) based upon subject matter which qualifies as prior art under only one or more of 35 U.S.C. 102(e), (f) or (g) via 35 U.S.C. 103(c)(2), the applicant must provide a statement to the effect that the prior art and the claimed invention were made by or on the behalf of parties to a joint research agreement, within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. 103(c)(3) and paragraph (c)(4)(ii) of this section, that was in effect on or before the date the claimed invention was made, and that the claimed invention was made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of the joint research agreement.

(5)The claims in any original application naming an inventor will be rejected as being precluded by a waiver in a published statutory invention registration naming that inventor if the same subject matter is claimed in the application and the statutory invention registration. The claims in any reissue application naming an inventor will be rejected as being precluded by a waiver in a published statutory invention registration naming that inventor if the reissue application seeks to claim subject matter:

(i)Which was not covered by claims issued in the patent prior to the date of publication of the statutory invention registration; and

(ii)Which was the same subject matter waived in the statutory invention registration.

(d)Citation of references.

(1)If domestic patents are cited by the examiner, their numbers and dates, and the names of the patentees will be stated. If domestic patent application publications are cited by the examiner, their publication number, publication date, and the names of the applicants will be stated. If foreign published applications or patents are cited, their nationality or country, numbers and dates, and the names of the patentees will be stated, and such other data will be furnished as may be necessary to enable the applicant, or in the case of a reexamination proceeding, the patent owner, to identify the published applications or patents cited. In citing foreign published applications or patents, in case only a part of the document is involved, the particular pages and sheets containing the parts relied upon will be identified. If printed publications are cited, the author (if any), title, date, pages or plates, and place of publication, or place where a copy can be found, will be given.

(2)When a rejection in an application is based on facts within the personal knowledge of an employee of the Office, the data shall be as specific as possible, and the reference must be supported, when called for by the applicant, by the affidavit of such employee, and such affidavit shall be subject to contradiction or explanation by the affidavits of the applicant and other persons.

(e)Reasons for allowance. If the examiner believes that the record of the prosecution as a whole does not make clear his or her reasons for allowing a claim or claims, the examiner may set forth such reasoning. The reasons shall be incorporated into an Office action rejecting other claims of the application or patent under reexamination or be the subject of a separate communication to the applicant or patent owner. The applicant or patent owner may file a statement commenting on the reasons for allowance within such time as may be specified by the examiner. Failure by the examiner to respond to any statement commenting on reasons for allowance does not give rise to any implication.

Current procedure allows the examiner, in the exercise of his or her professional judgment to indicate that a discussion with applicant's or patent owner’s representative may result in agreements whereby the application or patent under reexamination may be placed in condition for allowance and that the examiner will telephone the representative within about 2 weeks. Under this practice the applicant’s or patent owner’s representative can be adequately prepared to conduct such a discussion. Any resulting amendment may be made either by the applicant’s or patent owner’s attorney or agent or by the examiner in an examiner’s amendment. It should be recognized that when extensive amendments are necessary it would be preferable if they were filed by the attorney or agent of record, thereby reducing the professional and clerical workload in the Office and also providing the file wrapper with a better record, including applicant’s arguments for allowability as required by 37 CFR 1.111.

Replies to Office actions should include the application number as well as the 4-digit art unit number and the examiner’s name to expedite handling within the Office. Further, applicants are encouraged to include the 4-digit confirmation number on every paper filed in the Office. See MPEP § 503 for an explanation of the confirmation number.

In accordance with the patent statute, “Whenever, on examination, any claim for a patent is rejected, or any objection . . . made,” notification of the reasons for rejection and/or objection together with such information and references as may be useful in judging the propriety of continuing the prosecution (35 U.S.C. 132) should be given.

When considered necessary for adequate information, the particular figure(s) of the drawing(s), and/or page(s) or paragraph(s) of the reference(s), and/or any relevant comments briefly stated should be included. For rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103, the way in which a reference is modified or plural references are combined should be set out.

In exceptional cases, as to satisfy the requirements under 37 CFR 1.104(c)(2), and in pro se cases where the inventor is unfamiliar with patent law and practice, a more complete explanation may be needed.

Objections to the disclosure, explanation of references cited but not applied, indication of allowable subject matter, requirements (including requirements for restriction if applicable) and any other pertinent comments may be included. Office Action Summary form PTOL-326, which serves as the first page of the Office action (although a Form PTOL-90 may be used as a coversheet for the correspondence address and the mail date of the Office action), is to be used with all first actions and will identify any allowed claims.

707.01 Primary Examiner Indicates Action for New Assistant[edit | edit source]

After the search has been completed, action is taken in the light of the references found. Where the assistant examiner has been in the Office but a short time, it is the duty of the primary examiner to review the application thoroughly. The usual procedure is for the assistant examiner to explain the invention and discuss the references which he or she regards as most pertinent. The primary examiner may indicate the action to be taken, whether restriction or election of species is to be required, or whether the claims are to be considered on their merits. If action on the merits is to be given, the primary examiner may indicate how the references are to be applied in cases where the claim is to be rejected, or authorize allowance if it is not met in the references and no further field of search is known.

707.02 Applications Up for Third Action and 5-Year Applications[edit | edit source]

The supervisory patent examiners should impress their assistants with the fact that the shortest path to the final disposition of an application is by finding the best references on the first search and carefully applying them.

The supervisory patent examiners are expected to personally check on the pendency of every application which is up for the third or subsequent Office action with a view to finally concluding its prosecution.


Any application that has been pending five years should be carefully studied by the supervisory patent examiner and every effort should be made to terminate its prosecution. In order to accomplish this result, the application is to be considered “special” by the examiner.

707.05 Citation of References[edit | edit source]

37 CFR 1.104. Nature of examination.
.          .          .

(d)Citation of references.

(1)If domestic patents are cited by the examiner, their numbers and dates, and the names of the patentees will be stated. If domestic patent application publications are cited by the examiner, their publication number, publication date, and the names of the applicants will be stated. If foreign published applications or patents are cited, their nationality or country, numbers and dates, and the names of the patentees will be stated, and such other data will be furnished as may be necessary to enable the applicant, or in the case of a reexamination proceeding, the patent owner, to identify the published applications or patents cited. In citing foreign published applications or patents, in case only a part of the document is involved, the particular pages and sheets containing the parts relied upon will be identified. If printed publications are cited, the author (if any), title, date, pages or plates, and place of publication, or place where a copy can be found, will be given.

(2)When a rejection in an application is based on facts within the personal knowledge of an employee of the Office, the data shall be as specific as possible, and the reference must be supported, when called for by the applicant, by the affidavit of such employee, and such affidavit shall be subject to contradiction or explanation by the affidavits of the applicant and other persons.

During the examination of an application or reexamination of a patent, the examiner should cite appropriate prior art which is nearest to the subject matter defined in the claims. When such prior art is cited, its pertinence should be explained.

The examiner must consider all the prior art references (alone and in combination) cited in the application or reexamination, including those cited by the applicant in a properly submitted Information Disclosure Statement. See MPEP § 609.

Effective June 8, 1995, Public Law 103-465 amended 35 U.S.C. 154 to change the term of a patent to 20 years measured from the filing date of the earliest U.S. application for which benefit under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121 or 365(c) is claimed. The 20-year patent term applies to all utility and plant patents issued on applications filed on or after June 8, 1995. As a result of the 20-year patent term, it is expected, in certain circumstances, that applicants may cancel their claim to priority by amending the specification to delete any references to prior applications. Therefore, examiners should search all applications based on the actual U.S. filing date of the application rather than on the filing date of any parent U.S. application for which priority is claimed. Examiners should cite of interest all material prior art having an effective filing date after the filing date of the U.S. parent application but before the actual filing date of the application being examined.

Allowed applications should generally contain a citation of pertinent prior art for printing in the patent, even if no claim presented during the prosecution was considered unpatentable over such prior art. Only in those instances where a proper search has not revealed any prior art relevant to the claimed invention is it appropriate to send an application to issue with no art cited. In the case where no prior art is cited, the examiner must write “None” on a form PTO-892 and insert it in the file wrapper. For Image File Wrapper (IFW) processing, see IFW Manual section 3.7. Where references have been cited during the prosecution of parent applications and a continuing application, having no newly cited references, is ready for allowance, the cited references of the parent applications should be listed on a form PTO-892. The form should then be placed in the file of the continuing application. For Image File Wrapper (IFW) processing, see IFW Manual section 3.7. See MPEP § 1302.12. In a continued prosecution application filed under 37 CFR 1.53(d), it is not necessary to prepare a new form PTO-892 since the form from the parent application is in the same file wrapper and will be used by the printer.

In all continuation and continuation-in-part applications, the parent applications should be reviewed for pertinent prior art.

Applicants and/or applicants’ attorneys in PCT related national applications may wish to cite the material citations from the PCT International Search Report by an information disclosure statement under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 in order to ensure consideration by the examiner.

In those instances where no information disclosure statement has been filed by the applicant and where documents are cited in the International Search Report but neither a copy of the documents nor an English translation (or English family member) is provided, the examiner may exercise discretion in deciding whether to take necessary steps to obtain the copy and/or translation.

Copies of documents cited will be provided as set forth in MPEP § 707.05(a). That is, copies of documents cited by the examiner will be provided to applicant except where the documents:

(A)are cited by applicant in accordance with MPEP § 609, § 707.05(b), and § 708.02;

(B)have been referred to in applicant’s disclosure statement;

(C)are cited and have been provided in a parent application;

(D)are cited by a third party in a submission under 37 CFR 1.99 (MPEP § 1134.01); or

(E)are U.S. Patents or U.S. application publications.

See MPEP § 707.05(e) regarding data used in citing references.

707.05 (a)Copies of Cited References[edit | edit source]

Copies of cited foreign patent documents and non- patent literature references (except as noted below) are automatically furnished without charge to applicant together with the Office action in which they are cited. Copies of the cited references are also placed in the application file for use by the examiner during the prosecution.Copies of U.S. patents and U.S. patent application publications are not provided in paper to applicants and are not placed in the application file.

Copies of references cited by applicant in accordance with MPEP § 609, § 707.05(b) and § 708.02 are not furnished to applicant with the Office action. Additionally, copies of references cited in continuation applications if they had been previously cited in the parent application are not furnished. The examiner should check the left hand column of form PTO-892 if a copy of the reference is not to be furnished to the applicant.

Copies of foreign patent documents and nonpatent literature (NPL) which are cited by the examiner at the time of allowance will be furnished to applicant with the Office action, and copies of the same will also be retained in the file. For Image File Wrapper (IFW) processing, see IFW Manual section 3.7. This will apply to all allowance actions, including first action allowances and Ex Parte Quayle actions.

In the rare instance where no art is cited in a continuing application, all the references cited during the prosecution of the parent application will be listed at allowance for printing in the patent.

To assist in providing copies of , or access to, references, the examiner should:

(A)Type the citation of the references on form PTO-892, “Notice of References Cited” using OACS;

(B)Place the form PTO-892 in the front of the file wrapper;

(C)Include in the application file wrapper all of the references cited by the examiner which are to be furnished to the applicant (for Image File Wrapper (IFW) processing, see IFW Manual);

(D) Turn the application in to the technical support staff for counting. Any application which is handed in without all of the required references will be returned to the examiner. The missing reference(s) should be obtained and the file returned to the technical support staff as quickly as possible. For Image File Wrapper (IFW) processing, see IFW Manual section 3.7.

707.05(b) Citation of Related Art and Information by Applicants[edit | edit source]

I. CITATION OF RELATED ART BY APPLICANTS

MPEP § 609 sets forth guidelines for applicants, their attorneys and agents who desire to submit prior art for consideration by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Submitted citations will not in any way diminish the obligation of examiners to conduct independent prior art searches, or relieve examiners of citing other pertinent prior art of which they may be aware.

Prior art submitted by applicant in the manner provided in MPEP § 609 will not be supplied with an Office action.

II. CITATION OF RELATED INFORMATION BY APPLICANTS

37 CFR 1.105 and MPEP § 704.10 et seq. set forth procedures for examiners to require applicants, their attorneys and agents to submit information reasonably necessary for the Office to examine an application or treat a matter being addressed in an application.

Any such requirement, and any information submitted in reply thereto, will not in any way diminish the obligation of examiners to conduct independent prior art searches, or relieve examiners of citing other pertinent prior art of which they may be aware.

Information submitted by applicant in the manner provided in MPEP § 704.10 et seq. will not be supplied with an Office action.

707.05(c) Order of Listing[edit | edit source]

In citing references for the first time, the identifying data of the citation should be placed on form PTO- 892 “Notice of References Cited,” a copy of which will be attached to the Office action. No distinction is to be made between references on which a claim is rejected and those formerly referred to as “pertinent.” With the exception of applicant submitted citations, MPEP § 609 and § 708.02, it is recommended that the pertinent features of references which are not used as a basis for rejection be pointed out briefly.

See MPEP § 1302.12.

707.05(d) Reference Cited in SubsequentActions[edit | edit source]

Where an applicant in an amendatory paper refers to a reference that is subsequently relied upon by the examiner, such reference shall be cited by the examiner in the usual manner using a form PTO-892, “Notice of References Cited,” unless applicant has listed the reference on a form PTO/SB/08 that has been initialed by the examiner.

707.05(e) Data Used in Citing References[edit | edit source]

37 CFR 1.104(d) (see also MPEP § 707.05 and § 901.05(a)) requires the examiner to provide certain data when citing references. The examiner should provide the citations on the "Notice of References Cited" form PTO-892 (copy at MPEP § 707.05).

I. U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

If a U.S. patent application publication is cited by the examiner, the publication number, publication date, name of the applicant, class, and subclass should be cited under the section “U.S. Patent Documents” on the form PTO-892. For U.S. patents, the patent number, patent date, name of the patentee, class and subclass should also be cited under the same section. In addition, examiners are encouraged to cite the kind codes printed on U.S. patent application publications and patents. See MPEP § 901.04(a) for an explanation of the kind codes. See MPEP § 901.04 for details concerning the various series of U.S. patents and how to cite them. Note that patents of the X-Series (dated prior to July 4, 1836) are not to be cited by number. Some U.S. patents issued in 1861 have two numbers thereon. The larger number should be cited.

Defensive Publications and Statutory Invention Registrations (SIRs) should be cited under the section “U.S. Patent Documents” on the form PTO-892 (see MPEP § 711.06(a) and § 901.06(a)).

II. FOREIGN PATENTS AND FOREIGN PUBLISHED APPLICATIONS

In citing foreign patents, the patent number, kind code, citation date, name of the country, name of the patentee, and U.S. class and subclass, if appropriate, must be given. Foreign patents searched in those Technology Centers (TCs) filing by International Patent Classification (IPC) will be cited using the appropriate IPC subclass/group/subgroup. On the file wrapper “Searched” box and PTO-892, the IPC subclass/ group/subgroup shall be cited in the spaces provided for “Classification.” For Image File Wrapper (IFW) processing, see IFW Manual section 3.7.

Where less than the entire disclosure of the reference is relied upon, the sheet and page numbers specifically relied upon and the total number of sheets of drawing and pages of specification must be included (except applicant submitted citations). If the entire disclosure is relied on, the total number of sheets and pages are not required to be included on the PTO-892.

Publications such as German allowed applications and Belgian and Netherlands printed specifications should be similarly handled.

See MPEP § 901.05(a) for a chart in which foreign language terms indicative of foreign patent and publication dates to be cited are listed.

III. PUBLICATIONS

Abstracts, abbreviatures, Alien Property Custodian publications, withdrawn U.S. patents, withdrawn U.S. patent application publications, and other non-patent documents should be cited under the section “Non- Patent Documents” on the form PTO-892). See MPEP § 711.06(a) for citation of abstracts, and abbreviatures. See MPEP § 901.06(c) for citation of Alien Property Custodian publications. In citing a publication, sufficient information should be given to determine the identity and facilitate the location of the publication. For books, the data required by 37 CFR 1.104(d) (MPEP § 707.05) with the specific pages relied on identified together with the Scientific and Technical Information Center (STIC) call number will suffice. The call number appears on the “spine” of the book if the book is thick enough and, in any event, on the back of the title page. Books on interlibrary loan will be marked with the call numbers of the other library, of course. THIS NUMBER SHOULD NOT BE CITED. The same convention should be followed in citing articles from periodicals. The call number should be cited for periodicals owned by the STIC, but not for periodicals borrowed from other libraries. In citing periodicals, information sufficient to identify the article includes the author(s) and title of the article and the title, volume number issue number, date, and pages of the periodical. If the copy relied on is located only in the Technology Center making the action (there may be no call number), the additional information, “Copy in Technology Center — —” should be given.

The following are examples of nonpatent bibliographical citations:

(A) For books:

Winslow. C. E. A. Fresh Air and Ventilation. N.Y., E. P. Dutton, 1926. p. 97-112. TI17653.W5.

(B) For parts of books:

Smith, J. F. “Patent Searching.” in: Singer, T.E.R., Information and Communication Practice in Industry (New York, Reinhold, 1958), pp. 157- 165. T 175.S5.

(C) For encyclopedia articles:

Calvert, R. “Patents (Patent Law).” in: Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology (1952 ed.), vol. 9, pp. 868-890. Ref. TP9.E68.

(D) For sections of handbooks:

Machinery’s Handbook, 16th ed. New York, International Press, 1959. pp. 1526-1527. TJ151.M3 1959.

(E) For periodical articles:

Noyes, W. A. A Climate for Basic Chemical Research

Chemical & Engineering News, Vol. 38, no. 42 (Oct. 17, 1960), pp. 91-95. TP1.I418.

The following are examples of how withdrawn U.S. patents and withdrawn U.S. patent application publications should be cited:

(A) Withdrawn U.S. patents:

US 6,999,999, 10/2002, Brown et al., 403/155 (withdrawn).

(B) Withdrawn U.S. patents application publications:

US 2002/0009999 A1, 7/2002, Jones et al., 403/ 155 (withdrawn).

Titles of books and periodicals SHOULD NOT be abbreviated because an abbreviation such as P.S.E.B.M. will not be sufficient to identify the publication. References are to be cited so that anyone reading a patent may identify and retrieve the publications cited. Bibliographic information provided must be at least enough to identify the publication. author, title and date. For books, minimal information includes the author, title, and date. For periodicals, at least the title of the periodical, the volume number, date, and pages should be given. These minimal citations may be made ONLY IF the complete bibliographic details are unknown or unavailable.

Where a nonpatent literature reference with a document identification number is cited, the identification number and the class and subclass should be included on form PTO-892. For example, the citation should be as follows: (S00840001) Winslow, C.E.A. Fresh Air and Ventilation N.Y., E.P. Dutton, 1926, p. 97-112, TH 7653, W5, 315/22.

If the original publication is located outside the Office, the examiner should immediately make or order a photocopy of at least the portion relied upon and indicate the class and subclass in which it will be filed, if any.

IV. ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS

An electronic document is one that can be retrieved from an online source (e.g., the Internet, online database, etc.) or sources found on electronic storage media (e.g., CD-ROM, magnetic disk or tape, etc.). Many references in paper format may also be retrieved as electronic documents. Other references are retrievable only from electronic sources.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office follows the format recommended by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Standard ST.14, “Recommendation for the Inclusion of References Cited in Patent Documents.” The format for the citation of an electronic document is as similar as possible to the format used for paper documents of the same type, but with the addition of the following information in the locations indicated, where appropriate:

(A)the type of electronic medium provided in square brackets [ ] after the title of the publication or the designation of the host document, e.g., [online], [CD-ROM], [disk], [magnetic tape];

(B)the date when the document was retrieved from the electronic media in square brackets following after the date of publication, e.g., [retrieved on March 4, 1998], [retrieved on 1998-03-04]. The four- digit year must always be given.

(C)identification of the source of the document using the words “Retrieved from” and its address where applicable. This item will precede the citation of the relevant passages.

(D)specific passages of the text could be indicated if the format of the document includes pagination or an equivalent internal referencing system, or by the first and last words of the passage cited.

Office copies of an electronic document must be retained if the same document may not be available for retrieval in the future. This is especially important for sources such as the Internet and online databases.

If an electronic document is also available in paper form it does not need to be identified as an electronic document, unless it is considered desirable or useful to do so.

Examples 1-4: Documents retrieved from online databases outside the Internet

Example 1:

SU 1511467 A (BRYAN MECH) 1989-09-30 (abstract) World Patents Index [online]. London, U.K.: Derwent Publications, Ltd. [retrieved on 1998-02-24]. Retrieved from: Questel/Orbit, Paris, France. DW9016, Accession No. 90-121923.

Example 2:

DONG, X. R. ‘Analysis of patients of multiple injuries with AIS-ISS and its clinical significance in the evaluation of the emergency managements’, Chung Hua Wai Ko Tsa Chih, May 1993, Vol. 31, No. 5, pages 301-302. (abstract) Medline [online]. Bethesda, MD, USA: United States National Library of Medicine [retrieved on 24 February 1998]. Retrieved from: Dialog Information Services, Palo Alto, CA, USA. Medline Accession no. 94155687, Dialog Accession No. 07736604.

Example 3:

JENSEN, B. P. ‘Multilayer printed circuits: production and application II’. Electronik, June-July

1976, No. 6-7, pages 8, 10,12,14,16. (abstract) INSPEC [online]. London, U.K.: Institute of Electrical Engineers [retrieved on 1998-02-24]. Retrieved from: STN International, Columbus, Ohio, USA. Accession No. 76:956632.

Example 4:

JP 3002404 (TAMURA TORU) 1991-03-13 (abstract). [online] [retrieved on 1998-09-02]. Retrieved from: EPO PAJ Database.

Examples 5-11: Documents retrieved from the Internet

Example 5:

(Entire Work – Book or Report)

WALLACE, S., and BAGHERZADEH, N. Multiple Branch and Block Prediction. Third International Symposium on High-Performance Computer Architecture [online], February 1997 [retrieved on 1998-05-20]. Retrieved from the Internet: URL: http://www.eng.uci.edu/ comp.arch/papers-wallace/hpca3-block.ps.

Example 6:

(Part of Work – chapter or equivalent designation)

National Research Council, Board on Agriculture, Committee on Animal Nutrition, Subcommittee on Beef Cattle Nutrition. Nutrient Requirements of Beef Cattle [online]. 7th revised edition. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1996 [retrieved on 1998-06-10]. Retrieved from the Internet: URL: http://www2.nap.edu/htbin/docpage/ title=Nutrient+Requirements+of+Beef+Cattle% 3A+Seventh+ Revised+Edtion%2C+1996&dload=0& path=/ext5/extra&name=054265%2Erdo&docid= 00805F50FE7b%3A840052612&colid=4%7C6% 7C41&start=38 Chapter 3, page 24, table 3-1.

Example 7:

(Electronic Serial – articles or other contributions)

Ajtai. Generating Hard Instances of Lattice Problems. Electronic Colloquium on Computational Complexity, Report TR96-007 [online], [retrieved on 1996-01-30]. Retrieved from the Internet URL: ftp://ftp.eccc.uni-trier.de/pub/eccc/reports/ 1996/TR96-007/index.html

Example 8:

(Electronic bulletin boards, message systems, and discussion lists – Entire System)

BIOMET-L (A forum for the Bureau of Biometrics of New York) [online]. Albany (NY): Bureau of Biometrics, New York State Health Department, July, 1990 [retrieved 1998-02-24]. Retrieved from the Internet: [email protected], message: subscribe BIOMET-L your real name.

Example 9:

(Electronic bulletin boards, message systems, and discussion lists – Contributions)

PARKER, Elliott. ‘Re: citing electronic journals’. In PACS-L (Public Access Computer Systems Forum) [online]. Houston (TX): University of Houston Libraries, November 24, 1989; 13:29:35 CST [retrieved on 1998-02-24]. Retrieved from the Internet: URL:telnet://[email protected].

Example 10:

(Electronic mail)

‘Plumb design of a visual thesaurus’. The Scout Report [online]. 1998, vol. 5 no. 3 [retrieved on 1998-05-18]. Retrieved from Internet electronic mail: [email protected], subscribe message: info scout-report. ISSN: 1092-3861\cf15.

Example 11:

Corebuilder 3500 Layer 3 High-function Switch. Datasheet [online]. 3Com Corporation, 1997 [retrieved on 1998-02-24]. Retrieved from the Internet: URL: www.3com.com/products/ dsheets/400347.html.

(Product Manual/Catalogue or other information obtained from a Web-site)

Example 12:

HU D9900111 Industrial Design Application, (HADJDUTEJ TEJIPARI RT, DEBRECEN) 1999- 09-28, [online], [retrieved on 1999-10-26] Retrieved from the Industrial Design Database of the Hungarian Patent Office using Internet URL: http:/www.hpo.hu/English/db/indigo/.

Examples 13 and 14: Documents retrieved from CD-ROM products

Examples 13 and 14:

JP 0800085 A (TORAY IND INC), (abstract), 1996-05-31. In: Patent Abstracts of Japan [CD- ROM].

Examples 14:

HAYASHIDA, O. et. al.: Specific molecular recognition by chiral cage-type cyclophanes having leucine, valine, and alanine residues. In: Tetrahedron 1955, Vol. 51 (31), p.

8423-36. In: CA on CD [CD-ROM]. Columbus, OH: CAS.\f5Abstract 124:9350.

707.05(f) Effective Dates of Declassified Printed Matter[edit | edit source]

In using declassified material as references there are usually two pertinent dates to be considered, namely, the printing date and the publication date. The printing date in some instances will appear on the material and may be considered as that date when the material was prepared for limited distribution. The publication date is the date of release when the material was made available to the public. See Ex parteHarris, 79 USPQ 439 (Comm’r Pat. 1948). If the date of release does not appear on the material, this date may be determined by reference to the Office of Technical Services, Department of Commerce.

In the use of any of the above noted material as an anticipatory publication, the date of release following declassification is the effective date of publication within the meaning of the statute.

For the purpose of anticipation predicated upon prior knowledge under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) the above noted declassified material may be taken as prima facie evidence of such prior knowledge as of its printing date even though such material was classified at that time. When so used the material does not constitute an absolute statutory bar and its printing date may be antedated by an affidavit or declaration under 37 CFR 1.131.

707.05(g) Incorrect Citation of References[edit | edit source]

Where an error in citation of a reference is brought to the attention of the Office by applicant, a letter correcting the error, together with a correct copy of the reference, is sent to applicant. See MPEP § 710.06. Where the error is discovered by the examiner, applicant is also notified and the period for reply restarted. In either case, the examiner is directed to correct the error, in ink, in the paper in which the error appears, and place his or her initials on the margin of such paper, together with a notation of the paper number of the action in which the citation has been correctly given. See MPEP § 710.06. For Image File Wrapper (IFW) processing, see IFW Manual.

In any application otherwise ready for issue, in which the erroneous citation has not been formally corrected in an official paper, the examiner is directed to correct the citation by examiner’s amendment accompanying the Notice of Allowability form PTOL-37.

If a FOREIGN patent is incorrectly cited: for example, the wrong country is indicated or the country omitted from the citation, the General Reference Branch of the Scientific and Technical Library may be helpful. The date and number of the patent are often sufficient to determine the correct country which granted the patent.

707.06 Citation of Decisions, Orders Memorandums, and Notices[edit | edit source]

In citing court decisions, the USPQ citation should be given and, when it is convenient to do so, the U.S., CCPA or Federal Reporter citation should also be provided.

The citation of manuscript decisions which are not available to the public should be avoided.

It is important to recognize that a federal district court decision that has been reversed on appeal cannot be cited as authority.

In citing a manuscript decision which is available to the public but which has not been published, the tribunal rendering the decision and complete data identifying the paper should be given. Thus, a decision of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences which has not been published but which is available to the public in the patented file should be cited, as “ Ex parte — — , decision of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, Patent No. — — — , paper No. — — , — — — pages.”

Decisions found only in patented files should be cited only when there is no published decision on the same point.

When a Director’s order, notice or memorandum not yet incorporated into this manual is cited in any official action, the title and date of the order, notice or memorandum should be given. When appropriate other data, such as a specific issue of the Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society or of the Official Gazette in which the same may be found, should also be given.

707.07 Completeness and Clarity ofExaminer’s Action[edit | edit source]

37 CFR 1.104. Nature of examination.
.          .          .

(b)Completeness of examiner’s action. The examiner’s action will be complete as to all matters, except that in appropriate circumstances, such as misjoinder of invention, fundamental defects in the application, and the like, the action of the examiner may be limited to such matters before further action is made. However, matters of form need not be raised by the examiner until a claim is found allowable.

707.07(a) Complete Action on Formal Matters[edit | edit source]

Forms are placed in informal applications listing informalities noted by the Draftsperson (form PTO- 948) and the Office of Initial Patent Examination . Each of these forms comprises an original for the file record and a copy to be mailed to applicant as a part of the examiner’s first action. For Image File Wrapper (IFW) processing, see IFW Manual. They are specifically referred to as attachments to the action and are marked with its paper number. In every instance where these forms are to be used, they should be mailed with the examiner’s first action, and any additional formal requirements which the examiner desires to make should be included in the first action.

707.07(b) Requiring New Oath[edit | edit source]

See MPEP § 602.02.

707.07(c) Draftsperson’s Requirement[edit | edit source]

See MPEP § 707.07(a); also MPEP § 608.02(a), (e), and (s).

707.07(d) Language To Be Used in Rejecting Claims[edit | edit source]

Where a claim is refused for any reason relating to the merits thereof it should be “rejected” and the ground of rejection fully and clearly stated, and the word “reject” must be used. The examiner should designate the statutory basis for any ground of rejection by express reference to a section of 35 U.S.C. in the opening sentence of each ground of rejection. If the claim is rejected as broader than the enabling disclosure, the reason for so holding should be given; if rejected as indefinite the examiner should point out wherein the indefiniteness resides; or if rejected as incomplete, the element or elements lacking should be specified, or the applicant be otherwise advised as to what the claim requires to render it complete.

See MPEP § 706.02 (i), (j), and (m) for language to be used.

Everything of a personal nature must be avoided. Whatever may be the examiner’s view as to the utter lack of patentable merit in the disclosure of the application examined, he or she should not express in the record the opinion that the application is, or appears to be, devoid of patentable subject matter. Nor should he or she express doubts as to the allowability of allowed claims or state that every doubt has been resolved in favor of the applicant in granting him or her the claims allowed.

The examiner should, as a part of the first Office action on the merits, identify any claims which he or she judges, as presently recited, to be allowable and/ or should suggest any way in which he or she considers that rejected claims may be amended to make them allowable. If the examiner does not do this, then by implication it will be understood by the applicant or his or her attorney or agent that in the examiner’s opinion, as presently advised, there appears to be no allowable claim nor anything patentable in the subject matter to which the claims are directed.

IMPROPERLY EXPRESSED REJECTIONS

An omnibus rejection of the claim “on the references and for the reasons of record” is stereotyped and usually not informative and should therefore be avoided. This is especially true where certain claims have been rejected on one ground and other claims on another ground.

A plurality of claims should never be grouped together in a common rejection, unless that rejection is equally applicable to all claims in the group.

707.07(e) Note All Outstanding Requirements[edit | edit source]

In taking up an amended application for action the examiner should note in every letter all the requirements outstanding against the application. Every point in the prior action of an examiner which is still applicable must be repeated or referred to, to prevent the implied waiver of the requirement. Such requirements include requirements for information under 37 CFR 1.105 and MPEP § 704.10; however the examiner should determine whether any such requirement has been satisfied by a negative reply under 37 CFR 1.105(a)(3).

As soon as allowable subject matter is found, correction of all informalities then present should be required.

707.07(f) Answer All Material Traversed[edit | edit source]

In order to provide a complete application file history and to enhance the clarity of the prosecution history record, an examiner must provide clear explanations of all actions taken by the examiner during prosecution of an application.

Where the requirements are traversed, or suspension thereof requested, the examiner should make proper reference thereto in his or her action on the amendment.

Where the applicant traverses any rejection, the examiner should, if he or she repeats the rejection, take note of the applicant’s argument and answer the substance of it.

If applicant’s arguments are persuasive and upon reconsideration of the rejection, the examiner determines that the previous rejection should be withdrawn, the examiner must provide in the next Office communication the reasons why the previous rejection is withdrawn by referring specifically to the page(s) and line(s) of applicant’s remarks which form the basis for withdrawing the rejection. It is not acceptable for the examiner to merely indicate that all of applicant’s remarks form the basis for withdrawing the previous rejection. Form paragraph 7.38.01 may be used. If the withdrawal of the previous rejection results in the allowance of the claims, the reasons, which form the basis for the withdrawal of the previous rejection, may be included in a reasons for allowance. See MPEP § 1302.14.

If applicant’s arguments are persuasive and the examiner determines that the previous rejection should be withdrawn but that, upon further consideration, a new ground of rejection should be made, form paragraph 7.38.02 may be used. See MPEP § 706.07(a) to determine whether the Office action may be made final.

If a rejection of record is to be applied to a new or amended claim, specific identification of that ground of rejection, as by citation of the paragraph in the former Office letter in which the rejection was originally stated, should be given.

ANSWERING ASSERTED ADVANTAGES

After an Office action, the reply (in addition to making amendments, etc.) may frequently include arguments and affidavits to the effect that the prior art cited by the examiner does not teach how to obtain or does not inherently yield one or more advantages (new or improved results, functions or effects), which advantages are urged to warrant issue of a patent on the allegedly novel subject matter claimed.

If it is the examiner’s considered opinion that the asserted advantages are not sufficient to overcome the rejection(s) of record, he or she should state the reasons for his or her position in the record, preferably in the action following the assertion or argument relative to such advantages. By so doing the applicant will know that the asserted advantages have actually been considered by the examiner and, if appeal is taken, the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences will also be advised. See MPEP § 716 et seq. for the treatment of affidavits and declarations under 37 CFR 1.132.

The importance of answering applicant’s arguments is illustrated by In re Herrmann, 261 F.2d 598, 120 USPQ 182 (CCPA 1958) where the applicant urged that the subject matter claimed produced new and useful results. The court noted that since applicant’s statement of advantages was not questioned by the examiner or the Board of Appeals, it was constrained to accept the statement at face value and therefore found certain claims to be allowable. See also In re Soni, 54 F.3d 746, 751, 34 USPQ2d 1684, 1688 (Fed. Cir. 1995) (Office failed to rebut applicant’s argument).

707.07(g) Piecemeal Examination[edit | edit source]

Piecemeal examination should be avoided as much as possible. The examiner ordinarily should reject each claim on all valid grounds available, avoiding, however, undue multiplication of references. (See MPEP § 904.03.) Major technical rejections on grounds such as lack of proper disclosure, lack of enablement, serious indefiniteness and res judicatashould be applied where appropriate even though there may be a seemingly sufficient rejection on the basis of prior art. Where a major technical rejection is proper, it should be stated with a full development of reasons rather than by a mere conclusion coupled with some stereotyped expression.

In cases where there exists a sound rejection on the basis of prior art which discloses the “heart” of the invention (as distinguished from prior art which merely meets the terms of the claims), secondary rejections on minor technical grounds should ordinarily not be made. Certain technical rejections (e.g. negative limitations, indefiniteness) should not be made where the examiner, recognizing the limitations of the English language, is not aware of an improved mode of definition.

Some situations exist where examination of an application appears best accomplished by limiting action on the claim thereof to a particular issue. These situations include the following:

(A)Where an application is too informal for a complete action on the merits. See MPEP § 702.01;

(B)Where there is an undue multiplicity of claims, and there has been no successful telephone request for election of a limited number of claims for full examination. See MPEP § 2173.05(n);

(C)Where there is a misjoinder of inventions and there has been no successful telephone request for election. See MPEP § 803, § 810, § 812.01;

(D)Where disclosure is directed to perpetual motion. See Ex parte Payne, 1904 C.D. 42, 108 O.G. 1049 (Comm’r Pat. 1903). However, in such cases, the best prior art readily available should be cited and its pertinency pointed out without specifically applying it to the claims.

On the other hand, a rejection on the grounds of res judicata, no prima facie showing for reissue, new matter, or inoperativeness (not involving perpetual motion) should be accompanied by rejection on all other available grounds.

707.07(h) Notify of Inaccuracies inAmendment[edit | edit source]

See MPEP § 714, subsection II. G.

707.07(i) Each Claim To Be Mentioned in Each Office Action[edit | edit source]

In every Office action, each pending claim should be mentioned by number, and its treatment or status given. Since a claim retains its original numeral throughout the prosecution of the application, its history through successive actions is thus easily traceable. Each action should include a summary of the status of all claims presented for examination. Form PTO-326 “Office Action Summary” should be used.

Claims retained under 37 CFR 1.142 and claims retained under 37 CFR 1.146 should be treated as set out in MPEP § 821 to § 821.04(b).

See MPEP Chapter 2300 for treatment of claims in the application of losing party in interference.

The Index of Claims should be kept up to date as set forth in MPEP § 719.04. For Image File Wrapper (IFW) processing, see IFW Manual.

707.07(j) State When Claims Are Allowable[edit | edit source]

I.INVENTOR FILED APPLICATIONS

When, during the examination of a pro se application it becomes apparent to the examiner that there is patentable subject matter disclosed in the application, the examiner should draft one or more claims for the applicant and indicate in his or her action that such claims would be allowed if incorporated in the application by amendment.

This practice will expedite prosecution and offer a service to individual inventors not represented by a registered patent attorney or agent. Although this practice may be desirable and is permissible in any case deemed appropriate by the examiner, it will be expected to be applied in all cases where it is apparent that the applicant is unfamiliar with the proper preparation and prosecution of patent applications.

II.ALLOWABLE EXCEPT AS TO FORM

When an application discloses patentable subject matter and it is apparent from the claims and applicant’s arguments that the claims are intended to be directed to such patentable subject matter, but the claims in their present form cannot be allowed because of defects in form or omission of a limitation, the examiner should not stop with a bare objection or rejection of the claims. The examiner’s action should be constructive in nature and, when possible, should offer a definite suggestion for correction. Further, an examiner’s suggestion of allowable subject matter may justify indicating the possible desirability of an interview to accelerate early agreement on allowable claims.

If the examiner is satisfied after the search has been completed that patentable subject matter has been disclosed and the record indicates that the applicant intends to claim such subject matter, the examiner may note in the Office action that certain aspects or features of the patentable invention have not been claimed and that if properly claimed such claims may be given favorable consideration.

If a claim is otherwise allowable but is dependent on a canceled claim or on a rejected claim, the Office action should state that the claim would be allowable if rewritten in independent form.

III.EARLY ALLOWANCE OF CLAIMS

Where the examiner is satisfied that the prior art has been fully developed and some of the claims are clearly allowable, the allowance of such claims should not be delayed.

707.07(l) Comment on Examples[edit | edit source]

The results of the tests and examples should not normally be questioned by the examiner unless there is reasonable basis for questioning the results. If the examiner questions the results, the appropriate claims should be rejected as being based on an insufficient disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph. In re Borkowski, 422 F.2d 904, 164 USPQ 642 (CCPA 1970). See MPEP § 2161 through § 2164.08(c) for a discussion of the written description and enablement requirements of 35 U.S.C 112, first paragraph. The applicant must reply to the rejection, for example, by providing the results of an actual test or example which has been conducted, or by providing relevant arguments that there is strong reason to believe that the result would be as predicted. Care should be taken that new matter is not entered into the application.

If questions are present as to operability or utility, consideration should be given to the applicability of a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 101. See MPEP § 706.03(a) and § 2107 et seq.

707.08 Reviewing and Initialing by Assistant Examiner[edit | edit source]

The full surname of the examiner who prepares the Office action will, in all cases, be typed at the end of the action. The telephone number below this should be called if the application is to be discussed or an interview arranged. Form paragraph 7.100, 7.101 or 7.102 should be used.

After the action is typed, the examiner who prepared the action reviews it for correctness. The surname or initials of the examiner who prepared the action and the date on which the action was typed should appear below the action. If this examiner does not have the authority to sign the action, he or she should initial above the typed name or initials, and forward the action to the authorized signatory examiner for signing.

707.13 Returned Office Action[edit | edit source]

Office actions are sometimes returned to the Office because the United States Postal Service has not been able to deliver them. Upon receipt of the returned Office action, the Technology Center (TC) technical support staff will check the application file record to ensure that the Office action was mailed to the correct correspondence address. If the Office action was not mailed to the correct correspondence address, it should be stamped “remailed” with the remailing date and mailed to the correct correspondence address. The period running against the application begins with the date of remailing. If the Office action was mailed to the correct correspondence address and it was addressed to an attorney or agent, a letter may be written to the inventor or assignee informing him or her of the returned action. The period running against the application begins with the date of remailing. Ex parte Gourtoff, 1924 C.D. 153, 329 O.G. 536 (Comm’r Pat. 1924).

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