Innowacje i własność intelektualna · 13.06.1996

Change in Procedure Relating to an Application Filing Date

The Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) is implementing a change in procedure relating to the treatment of applications filed without all the pages of the specification or without all of the figures of the drawings. Under this new procedure, the PTO will accord a filing date to any application that contains something that can be construed as a written description, any necessary drawing, and, in a nonprovisional application, at least one claim, regardless of whether the application is filed without all the pages of the specification or without all of the figures of the drawings. Applications filed without all the pages of the specification or without all of the figures of the drawings will be treated by mailing a notice indicating that the application has been accorded a filing date, but is missing pages of the specification of figures of drawings. The notice will indicate that failure to timely (37 CFR 1.181(f)) file a petition under 37 CFR 1.53(c) of 1.182 in response to such notice will result in the PTO treating the original application papers (the original disclosure of the intention) as including only those application papers present in the PTO on the date of deposit.