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ARTICLE · 09 OCTOBER 2015

AFCP And QPIDS Programs At USPTO Extended Through September 2016

In the beginning of October, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced that it is extending two programs that patent applicants find useful in the later stages of prosecution—the After Final Consideration Pilot 2.0 (AFCP) and the Quick Path Information Disclosure Statement (QPIDS) programs.

United StatesIntellectual Property

In the beginning of October, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced that it is extending two programs that patent applicants find useful in the later stages of prosecution—the After Final Consideration Pilot 2.0 (AFCP) and the Quick Path Information Disclosure Statement (QPIDS) programs.

The AFCP program originated in March 2012, and provides examiners with additional time to consider applicant responses after a final rejection. Examiners are allotted three (3) hours of additional time to interview and discuss their thinking with applicants even if a response does not place an application in condition for allowance. Applicants and practitioners can use this program to have amendments considered, and perhaps allowed, without the need to file a Request for Continued Examination (RCE). To do so, applicants must submit a response under 37 C.F.R. § 1.116 that includes a non-broadening amendment to at least one independent claim, along with a request under

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