Brief Summary:
Once the decision to allow an application to patent has been made by the PTO, a Notice of Allowance will be sent out to the applicant.
The applicant will then have a few months to pay the issue fee. Once the issue fee is paid (on time), the applicant will then be sent a copy of the official patent papers.
This chapter discusses the details of these proceedings and the variations that may occur such as; withdrawing from issue, the term lengths of various patents and what happens if the issue fee is not paid on time.
Key Terms:
| Allowed | Allowed refers to the status of a patent application when the examiner has determined that the claims meet all legal requirements, paving the way for the patent to be granted. |
| Issuance | Issuance refers to the formal granting of a patent by the patent office, signifying that the patent application has met all legal requirements and is now an enforceable legal document. |
| Issue Fee | An issue fee is the payment required to finalize the granting of a patent after the application has been allowed, covering administrative costs associated with issuing the patent. |
| Notice of Allowance | A Notice of Allowance is an official communication from the patent office indicating that a patent application has been approved for issuance, subject to the payment of the required issue fee. |
| Patent Term | The duration of time during which a granted patent is in effect, typically lasting 20 years from the filing date of the application, subject to the payment of maintenance fees. |
37 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations):
| 37 CFR 1.104 – Nature of examination. |
| 37 CFR 1.104 specifies that the examination of a patent application involves a thorough review to ensure compliance with legal requirements, including assessing the patentability of the claimed invention based on prior art and other relevant criteria. |
| 37 CFR 1.311 – Notice of Allowance. |
| 37 CFR 1.311 states that a Notice of Allowance is issued to the applicant when a patent application is found to be in condition for allowance, indicating that the application will proceed to grant upon payment of the issue fee. |
35 USC (United States Code):
| 35 USC 154 – Contents and term of patent; provisional rights. |
| 35 USC 154 outlines the contents of a patent, its term of 20 years from the application date, and the provisional rights granted to patent applicants before the patent is officially issued. |
Quick Statistics:
Number of Pages: 33 pgs
Sections: 1301 – 1309
List of Sections:
| 1301 | Substantially Allowable Application, Special | |
| 1302 | Preparation of an Application for Allowance | |
| • 1302.01 General Review of Disclosure • 1302.02 Requirement for a Rewritten Specification • 1302.03 Notice of Allowability • 1302.04 Examiner’s Amendments and Changes | ||
| • 1302.04(a) Title of Invention • 1302.04(b) [Reserved] • 1302.04(c) Cancellation of Claims to Nonelected Invention • 1302.04(d) Cancellation of Claim Lost in Interference • 1302.04(e) Cancellation of Rejected Claims Following Appeal • 1302.04(f) [Reserved] • 1302.04(g) Identification of Claims • 1302.04(h) Rejoinder of Claims | ||
| • 1302.05 Correction of Drawing • 1302.06 Prior Foreign Application • 1302.07 [Reserved] • 1302.08 Interference Search • 1302.09 Classification, Print Figure, and Other Notations • 1302.10 Issue Classification Notations • 1302.11 [Reserved] • 1302.12 Listing of References • 1302.13 Signing • 1302.14 Reasons for Allowance | ||
| 1303 | Notice of Allowance | |
| • 1303.01 Amendment Received After Allowance • 1303.02 Undelivered • 1303.03 Not Withheld Due to Death of Inventor | ||
| 1304 | Amendments After D-10 Notice | |
| • 1304.01 Withholding From Issue of “Secrecy Order” Applications | ||
| 1305 | Jurisdiction | |
| 1306 | Issue Fee | |
| • 1306.01 Deferring Issuance of a Patent • 1306.02 Simultaneous Issuance of Patents • 1306.03 Practice After Payment of Issue Fee; Receipt of Issue Notification | ||
| 1307 | Change in Classification of Cases Which Are in Issue | |
| 1308 | Withdrawal From Issue | |
| • 1308.01 Rejection After Allowance • 1308.02 For Interference or Derivation Purposes • 1308.03 Quality Review Program for Examined Patent Applications | ||
| 1309 | Issue of Patent | |
| • 1309.01 [Reserved] • 1309.02 “Printer Rush” Cases |