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Code of Federal Regulations Title 37. Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights § 37.1.115 Preliminary amendments

Current as of October 02, 2022 | Updated by FindLaw Staff

(a) A preliminary amendment is an amendment that is received in the Office (§ 1.6) on or before the mail date of the first Office action under § 1.104. The patent application publication may include preliminary amendments (§ 1.215(a)).

(1) A preliminary amendment that is present on the filing date of an application is part of the original disclosure of the application.

(2) A preliminary amendment filed after the filing date of the application is not part of the original disclosure of the application.

(b) A preliminary amendment in compliance with § 1.121 will be entered unless disapproved by the Director.

(1) A preliminary amendment seeking cancellation of all the claims without presenting any new or substitute claims will be disapproved.

(2) A preliminary amendment may be disapproved if the preliminary amendment unduly interferes with the preparation of a first Office action in an application. Factors that will be considered in disapproving a preliminary amendment include:

(i) The state of preparation of a first Office action as of the date of receipt (§ 1.6) of the preliminary amendment by the Office;  and

(ii) The nature of any changes to the specification or claims that would result from entry of the preliminary amendment.

(3) A preliminary amendment will not be disapproved under (b)(2) of this section if it is filed no later than:

(i) Three months from the filing date of an application under § 1.53(b);

(ii) The filing date of a continued prosecution application under § 1.53(d);  or

(iii) Three months from the date the national stage is entered as set forth in § 1.491 in an international application.

(4) The time periods specified in paragraph (b)(3) of this section are not extendable.

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Cite this article: FindLaw.com - Code of Federal Regulations Title 37. Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights § 37.1.115 Preliminary amendments - last updated October 02, 2022 | https://codes.findlaw.com/cfr/title-37-patents-trademarks-and-copyrights/cfr-sect-37-1-115/

Read this complete Code of Federal Regulations Title 37. Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights § 37.1.115 Preliminary amendments on Westlaw

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