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608.02(a) New Drawing - When Replacement is Required Before Examination [R-7] - 600 Parts, Form, and Content of Application
608.02(a) New Drawing - When Replacement is Required Before Examination [R-7]
See MPEP § 608.02 for the procedure to follow when drawings have not been filed, but a drawing will aid in the understanding of the invention. See MPEP § 601.01(f) for the procedure to follow when applications appear to be missing sheets of drawings. Drawings in utility and plant applications will be reviewed by the Office of **>Patent Application Processing (OPAP)< for compliance with certain requirements of 37 CFR 1.84. >OPAP< will send a Notice to File Corrected Application Papers if the drawings are not acceptable for purposes of publication. The notice will give applicant a time period of 2 months from the mailing date of the notice to file acceptable drawings. This time period for reply is extendable under 37 CFR 1.136(a). >OPAP< will not release applications to the Technology Centers until acceptable drawings are filed in the applications.
If at the time of the initial assignment of an application to an examiner's docket, or if at the time the application is taken up for action, the supervisory patent examiner believes the drawings to be of such a condition as to not permit reasonable examination of the application, applicant should be required to immediately submit corrected drawings. However, if the drawings do permit reasonable examination and the supervisory patent examiner believes the drawings are of such a character as to render the application defective under 35 U.S.C. 112, examination should begin immediately with a requirement for corrected drawings and a rejection of the claims as not being in compliance with 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph, being made.
If the drawings have been indicated by the applicant as informal, but no objection has been made to the drawings by *>OPAP< (drawings considered acceptable by *>OPAP<, the examiner should not require replacement of the "informal" drawings with new drawings. If the examiner does make objections to the drawings, the examiner should require correction in reply to the Office action and not permit the objection to be held in abeyance. See MPEP § 608.02(b), § 608.02(d) - § 608.02(h) and § 608.02(p) for further information on specific grounds for finding drawings informalities.
UNTIMELY FILED DRAWINGS
If a drawing is not timely received in reply to a notice from the Office or a letter from the examiner who requires a drawing, the application becomes abandoned for failure to reply.
For the handling of additional, duplicate, or substitute drawings, see MPEP § 608.02(h).
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