MPEP Section 2304.01(d), Sorting Claims

Executive summary:

This document contains Section 2304.01(d) ("Sorting Claims") 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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2304.01(d) Sorting Claims [R-4]

An applicant may be entitled to a day-for-day patent term adjustment for any time spent in an interference. If an applicant has several related applications with interfering claims intermixed with claims that do not interfere, the examiner should consider whether the interfering claims should be consolidated in a single application or whether an application should be restricted to claims that do not interfere. This way examination can proceed for any claims that do not interfere without the delay that will result from the interference.

Interfering claims of an applicant are "conflicting claims" within the meaning of 37 CFR 1.78(b). The examiner may require consolidation of such claims into any disclosure of the applicant that provides support for the claims. 35 U.S.C. 132(a).

Similarly, the examiner should require an applicant to restrict an application to the interfering claims, 35 U.S.C. 121, in which case the applicant may file a divisional application for the claims that do not interfere.

Sorting of claims may not be appropriate in all cases. For instance, a claim should not be consolidated into an application that does not provide support under 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph for the claim.<

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