Supplemental oaths and declarations covering the claims in the application may be filed after allowance as a matter of right. They should not be filed or considered as amendments under 37 CFR 1.312, since they make no change in the wording of the papers on file.

• Review Ed9 10.2019: 603.01

Information Disclosure Statements basically consist of the information that was gained from the patent search. An IDS should include a list of all patents, publications or other information relevant to the invention. This section includes a summary of information disclosure statements, English requirements, and details for listing references.

• Review Ed9 10.2019: 609

Filing a request for continued examination (RCE) provides a means for the applicant to continue with the prosecution of his or her application if prosecution becomes closed. Choosing an RCE is an alternative to filing a continuing application under 37 C.F.R. 1.53(b) or a CPA under 37 C.F.R. 1.53(d). This section covers RCE practice in detail.

• Review Ed9 10.2019: 706.07(h)

This section discusses instances where an amendment may have been prepared by an applicant prior to allowance, but does not reach the Office until after the notice of allowance has been mailed. Essentially, its entry is a matter of grace.

• Review Ed9 10.2019: 714.15

This section covers 37 C.F.R. 1.312, amendments after allowance. This rule is not to be used for continued prosecution. In addition amendments may not be filed after the date the issue fee has been paid. Both situations are briefly discussed in this section.

• Review Ed9 10.2019: 714.16

In a sense, paying the issue fee is the final hurdle for an applicant. After receiving the coveted Notice of Allowance, the applicant must pay the fee required for the application to issue. Once this fee is paid, the applicant will receive letters stating he or she has been granted a bona fide patent.

This section provides further details for the issue fee including the failure to pay the issue fee including examples when the issue fee will be late and when it will not be late. In addition, any amendment filed pursuant to 37 C.F.R. 1.312 must be filed before or with the payment of the issue fee.

• Review Ed9 10.2019: 1306

This section covers the withdrawal of an application from issue. An application may be withdrawn from issuance through a petition or by filing a continuing application. Both processes are discussed along with a brief discussion of times when rejection after allowance are possible.

• Review Ed9 10.2019: 1308

The patent owner, or any member of the public, may submit prior art patents or printed publications and/or written statements and additional information to the Office.

“Any person” includes patentees, licensees, reexamination requesters, real parties in interest to the patent owner or requester, persons without a real interest, and persons acting for real parties in interest without a need to identify the real party of interest.

If a person citing prior art or written statements desires his or her identity to be kept confidential, such a person need not identify himself or herself.

• Review Ed9 10.2019: 2203

Anyone, including corporations and government entities, may file a request for ex parte reexamination of a patent.

• Review Ed9 10.2019: 2212