The Ninth Edition, Revision 07.2015 (October 2015) of the MPEP incorporates changes to the laws, rules, and practice necessitated by, or made as a result of, the Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act of 2012 (PLTIA), Public Law 112-211, 126 Stat. 1527 (Dec. 18, 2012).
The Revision includes authentic revisions to all chapters of the MPEP except chapters 1200, 1400, 1600, 1900, 2000 and 2300. Along with these the revision adds following chapters:
- Chapter 2900 entitled – “International Design Applications”
- Chapter FPC entitled – “Form Paragraphs Consolidated”
Chapter 2900
Hague Agreement is an international agreement that enables an applicant to file a single international design application which may have the effect of an application for protection for the design(s) in countries and/or intergovernmental organizations that are parties to the Hague Agreement designated in the application. The United States is a Contracting Party to the Hague Agreement, which took effect with respect to the United States on May 13, 2015. The Hague Agreement is administered by the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (“the International Bureau”).
The Basic Flow of this agreement is as follows:
- Filing
- Formal Examination by the International Bureau
- Registration and Publication
- Examination by the Offices of the Designated Contracting Parties
For more details about the Chapter click here
Chapter FPC
This Chapter is newly added to the Manual and provides a consolidated listing of the form paragraphs of the Manual and the details can be found here.
The Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) is published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for use by patent attorneys and agents and patent examiners. It illustrates all of the laws and regulations that must be followed in the examination of U.S. patent applications. The MPEP is based on Chapter 37 (Intellectual Property Regulations) of the Code of Federal Regulations. The first version of the MPEP was published in 1920 by the Patent and Trademark Office Society.
The MPEP comprises the following chapters: (9th Revised Edition)
- 0100, Secrecy, Access, National Security, and Foreign Filing
- 0200, Types, Cross-Noting, and Status of Application
- 0300, Ownership and Assignment
- 0400, Representative of Inventor or Owner
- 0500, Receipt and Handling of Mail and Papers
- 0600, Parts, Form, and Content of Application
- 0700, Examination of Applications
- 0800, Restriction in Applications Filed Under 35 U.S.C. 111; Double Patenting
- 0900, Prior Art, Classification, and Search
- 1000, Matters Decided by Various U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Officials
- 1100, Statutory Invention Registration (SIR) and Pre-Grant Publication (PG Pub)
- 1200, Appeal
- 1300, Allowance and Issue
- 1400, Correction of Patents
- 1500, Design Patents
- 1600, Plant Patents
- 1700, Miscellaneous
- 1800, Patent Cooperation Treaty
- 1900, Protest
- 2000, Duty of Disclosure
- 2100, Patentability
- 2200, Citation of Prior Art and Ex Parte Reexamination of Patents
- 2300, Interference Proceedings
- 2400, Biotechnology
- 2500, Maintenance Fees
- 2600, Optional Inter Partes Reexamination
- 2700, Patent Terms and Extensions
- 2800, Supplemental Examination
- 2900, International Design Applications(addition)
- FPC, Form Paragraphs Consolidated (addition)
- Appendix I, Partial List of Trademarks\’
- Appendix II, List of Decisions Cited
- Appendix L, Patent Laws
- Appendix R, Patent Rules
- Appendix T, Patent Cooperation Treaty
- Appendix AI, Administrative Instructions Under The PCT
- Appendix P, Paris Convention
- Index, Subject Matter Index
You can find the updated e-version of the manual here.
