§ 1.115 - Preliminary amendments.  


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  • § 1.115 Preliminary amendments.

    (a) A preliminary amendment is an amendment that is received in the Office (§ 1.6) on or before the mail date of the first Office action under § 1.104. The patent application publication may include preliminary amendments (§ 1.215(a)).

    (1) A preliminary amendment that is present on the filing date of an application is part of the original disclosure of the application.

    (2) A preliminary amendment filed after the filing date of the application is not part of the original disclosure of the application.

    (b) A preliminary amendment in compliance with § 1.121 will be entered unless disapproved by the Director.

    (1) A preliminary amendment seeking cancellation of all the claims without presenting any new or substitute claims will be disapproved.

    (2) A preliminary amendment may be disapproved if the preliminary amendment unduly interferes with the preparation of a first Office action in an application. Factors that will be considered in disapproving a preliminary amendment include:

    (i) The state of preparation of a first Office action as of the date of receipt (§ 1.6) of the preliminary amendment by the Office; and

    (ii) The nature of any changes to the specification or claims that would result from entry of the preliminary amendment.

    (3) A preliminary amendment will not be disapproved under (b)(2) of this section if it is filed no later than:

    (i) Three months from the filing date of an application under § 1.53(b);

    (ii) The filing date of a continued prosecution application under § 1.53(d); or

    (iii) Three months from the date the national stage is entered as set forth in § 1.491 in an international application.

    (4) The time periods specified in paragraph (b)(3) of this section are not extendable.

    [69 FR 56543, Sept. 21, 2004]