MPEP Section 2308.03(c), No Second Interference

Executive summary:

This document contains Section 2308.03(c) ("No Second Interference") 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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2308.03(c) No Second Interference [R-4]

No second interference should occur between the same parties on patentably indistinct subject matter. If the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences held that there is no interference-in-fact between the parties for the subject matter of the count, that holding may not be reopened in further examination. If a party that lost the earlier interference is again claiming the same invention as the count, the interfering claims should be rejected as estopped.<

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