MPEP Section 818.03(c), Must Traverse To Preserve Right of Petition

Executive summary:

This document contains Section 818.03(c) ("Must Traverse To Preserve Right of Petition ") 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 (§818.03(b)) | Next Section (§818.03(d))

818.03(c) Must Traverse To Preserve Right of Petition [R-3]

37 CFR 1.144 Petition from requirement for restriction.

**>After a final requirement for restriction, the applicant, in addition to making any reply due on the remainder of the action, may petition the Director to review the requirement. Petition may be deferred until after final action on or allowance of claims to the invention elected, but must be filed not later than appeal. A petition will not be considered if reconsideration of the requirement was not requested (see § 1.181).<

---

If applicant does not distinctly and specifically point out supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election should be treated as an election without traverse and be so indicated to the applicant by use of form paragraph 8.25.02.

**>

¶ 8.25.02 Election Without Traverse Based on Incomplete Reply

Applicant's election of [1] in the reply filed on [2] is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse ( MPEP § 818.03(a)).

<