By Christopher P. Singer --
As reported a few weeks ago, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a
pre-OG Notice
regarding the way it will docket requests for continued examination (RCE)
beginning on November 15, 2009. For any RCE that is filed on or after that date, the Office will place
that RCE on an examiner's "Special New" application docket, which also
includes divisional and continuation applications as well as applications that
have been granted petitions to make special under 37 C.F.R. § 102(c). So if you are planning to file an RCE
in the near future, it may be a good idea to file the RCE this week so that it
gets placed on the examiner's current "amended docket."
This
change, along with changes to the way in which examiners receive
counts for RCEs (see "USPTO Proposes Changes to Count System"),
may significantly impact the rate at which examiners review and respond to
RCEs. Since applicants do not seem
to have any recourse regarding this docketing change, it will likely have little
to no effect on prosecution strategy. And because the claims in an RCE have been prosecuted
and examined, it may be that the examiners will be more inclined to review and
respond to an RCE than a divisional or continuation application that contains
claims that have not yet been examined. Practitioners may also be more inclined to review Final Office actions
more closely to ensure the finality has been properly asserted (see M.P.E.P. § 706.07(a))
as well as more frequently request Examiner interviews in order to discuss potential
amendments to place the claims in condition for allowance.
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