37 CFR 1.115
Preliminary amendments.

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§1.115 Preliminary amendments.

(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.