MPEP Section 719.01, Papers in File Wrapper

Executive summary:

This document contains Section 719.01 ("Papers in File Wrapper") 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.

For more information on patent law, please see the Patent Section of BitLaw. For patent services, see the Beck & Tysver pages.

Previous Section (§719) | Next Section (§719.01(a))

719.01 Papers in File Wrapper [R-2]

Papers that do not become a permanent part of the record should not be entered on the "Contents" of the file wrapper. All papers legally entered on the "Contents" of the file wrapper are given a paper number. No paper legally entered on the "Contents" should ever be withdrawn or **>expunged from the application file<, especially a part of the original disclosure of the application, without special authority of the *>Director<. However, 37 CFR 1.59 provides that certain documents may be **>expunged< if they were unintentionally submitted or contain proprietary information which has not been made public and is not important to a decision of patentability. See MPEP § 724. Certain oaths executed abroad may be returned but a copy is retained in the file. See MPEP § 604.04(a). >For Image File Wrapper (IFW) processing, see IFW Manual sections 3.3 and 3.4.<

Form paragraph 7.214 may be used to notify applicant that papers in an application that has received a filing date ordinarily will not be returned.

¶ 7.214 Papers Not Returned, Pro Se

Papers in an application that has received a filing date pursuant to 37 CFR  1.53 ordinarily will not be returned. If applicant has not preserved copies of the papers, the Office will furnish copies at applicant's expense. See 37 CFR  1.19 for a list of the current fees. See MPEP § 724.05 for information pertaining to petitions to expunge information.