MPEP Section 2173.05(r), Omnibus Claim

Executive summary:

This document contains Section 2173.05(r) ("Omnibus Claim") of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (the "M.P.E.P."), Eighth Edition, Eighth Revision (July 2010). This page was last updated in January 2011. You may return to the section index to find a particular section. Alternatively, you may search the MPEP using the search box that appears on the left side of every page of BitLaw--you may restrict your search to the MPEP on the search results page.

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2173.05(r) Omnibus Claim

Some applications are filed with an omnibus claim which reads as follows: A device substantially as shown and described. This claim should be rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, because it is indefinite in that it fails to point out what is included or excluded by the claim language. See Ex parte Fressola, 27 USPQ2d 1608 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1993), for a discussion of the history of omnibus claims and an explanation of why omnibus claims do not comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph.

Such a claim can be rejected using Form Paragraph 7.35. See MPEP § 706.03(d).

For cancellation of such a claim by examiner's amendment, see MPEP § 1302.04(b).