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Question:
What non-exhaustive factors may be considered to determine whether to accept a petition after the 2-month period?
Answer:
The following non-exhaustive factors may be considered to determine whether to accept a petition after the 2-month period:
- (1) Petitioner engaged in significant, constructive efforts with the examiner to resolve the issue outside of the petitions process
- (2) The examiner agreed, on the written record, to perform an action that would resolve the issue, but failed to do so
- (3) A showing of extenuating circumstances, such as delay caused by health, pandemic, natural disaster, etc.
Chapter Details:
The answer to this question can be found in chapter 1000 of the MPEP. This chapter covers Matters Decided by Various U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Officials.
The answer is from the 9th Edition, Revision 07.2022, Published February 2023. Depending on future changes to the MPEP, the question and answer may or may not be applicable in later Editions or revisions.
Section Summary:
This question and answer comes from section 1002 of the MPEP. The following is a brief summary of section 1002.
1002 Petitions to the Director of the USPTO
This section references 37 C.F.R. 1.181 petitions to the Director of the USPTO. It also provides a brief overview of petitions to the Director. For instance, the mere filing of a petition will not stay the period for replying to an examiner’s action, nor act as a stay of other proceedings. The applicant will need to file the petition and any reply within the time to reply or successfully file an extension of time.