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ARTICLE · 02 DECEMBER 2025

Special Considerations For Assigning A Continuation-In-Part Patent Application

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney
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In Causam Enterprises, Inc. v. International Trade Commission, No. 2023-1769, decided October 15, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that the phrase "all divisions, reissues, continuations and extensions thereof"...

United StatesIntellectual Property
William C. Rowland
William C. Rowland
Duane A. Stewart, III
Duane A. Stewart, III
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In Causam Enterprises, Inc. v. International Trade Commission, No. 2023-1769, decided October 15, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that the phrase "all divisions, reissues, continuations and extensions thereof" in an assignment for a patent applicationdoes NOT encompass continuation-in-part applications.

The issue was whether the language of the assignment conveyed rights to a subsequently filed continuation-in-part application. The assignment document assigned U.S. patent application 11/895,909 to America Connect, Inc. The specific language of the assignment transferred ownership of the "[i]nvention" of the '909 application and "all patents which may be granted therefor" and "all divisions, reissues, continuations and extensions thereof" (emphasis added). The assignment did not mention continuations-in part.

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