§1.115. Preliminary amendments.
37 C.F.R. § 1.115
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)).
A preliminary amendment that is present on the filing date of an application is part of the original disclosure of the application.
A preliminary amendment filed after the filing date of the application is not part of the original disclosure of the application.
A preliminary amendment in compliance with § 1.121 will be entered unless disapproved by the Director.
A preliminary amendment seeking cancellation of all the claims without presenting any new or substitute claims will be disapproved.
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:
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
The nature of any changes to the specification or claims that would result from entry of the preliminary amendment.
A preliminary amendment will not be disapproved under (b)(2) of this section if it is filed no later than:
Three months from the filing date of an application under § 1.53(b);
The filing date of a continued prosecution application under § 1.53(d); or
Three months from the date the national stage is entered as set forth in § 1.491 in an international application.
The time periods specified in paragraph (b)(3) of this section are not extendable.
Notes, amendments, and revision history
Amendments
[69 FR 56543, Sept. 21, 2004]
Authority
Authority: Secs. 1.115 to 1.127 also issued under 35 U.S.C. 132.
Authority
Authority: 35 U.S.C. 2(b)(2), unless otherwise noted.
Source
Source: 24 FR 10332, Dec. 22, 1959, unless otherwise noted.
Amendments
[69 FR 56543, Sept. 21, 2004]