Commerce Department, Patent and Trademark Office
The American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 (AIPA) enacted provisions for the continued examination of a utility or plant application at the request of the applicant (request for continued examination or RCE practice). Since continued prosecution application (CPA) practice is largely redundant in view of RCE practice, the Office is eliminating CPA practice as to utility and plant applications. An applicant for a utility or plant patent may also continue to effectively obtain further examination of the application by filing a continuing application. Since RCE practice does not apply to design applications, CPA practice will remain in place for design applications.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Commerce Patent and Trademark Office 37 CFR Part 1 RIN 0651-AB37 AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: The American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 (AIPA) enacted provisions for the continued examination of a utility or plant application at the request of the applicant (request for continued examination or RCE practice). Since continued prosecution application (CPA) practice is largely redundant in view of RCE practice, the Office is eliminating CPA practice as to utility and plant applications. An applicant for a utility or plant patent may also continue to effectively obtain further examination of the application by filing a continuing application. Since RCE practice does not apply to design applications, CPA practice will remain in place for design applications. EFFECTIVE DATE: July 14, 2003. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eugenia A. Jones, by telephone at (703) 306-5586, or by mail addressed to: Box Comments—Patents, Commissioner for Patents, Washington, DC 20231, or by facsimile to (703) 872-9404, marked to the attention of Eugenia A. Jones. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The AIPA was enacted into law on November 29, 1999. See Pub. L. 106-113 , 113 Stat. 1501, 1501A-552 through 1501A-591 (1999). Among other things, the AIPA amended title 35 of the United States Code to provide for a request for continued examination (RCE) practice. See 35 U.S.C. 132(b) . RCE practice is applicable to any utility or pl…
Citation: 68 FR 32376
