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903.08(b) Classification and Assignment to Examiner - 900 Prior Art, Classification, Search
903.08(b) Classification and Assignment to Examiner
Every nonprovisional application, new or amended, and including the drawings, if any, when first assigned to a Technology Center (TC) must be classified and assigned to an examiner for examination. The supervisory patent examiner normally assigns the application, noting in lead pencil in the space provided on the face of the file the assigned class and subclass and also the name of the examiner. The application file is then turned over to the technical support staff for processing. Provisional applications are not classified or assigned since they are not examined.
If an examiner other than the supervisory patent examiner is given the responsibility of assigning applications, time so spent may, at the TC Director's discretion, be charged to "Assisting SPE."
CLASSIFICATION AND ASSIGNMENT OF APPLICATIONS FILED UNDER THE PATENT COOPERATION TREATY (PCT)
Applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) are normally classified on the basis of the first claimed invention in the application. The following special situations, however, apply:
(A) if a U.S. national application has been acted upon by an examiner to whom the national application was assigned on the basis of the controlling (not necessarily the first) claim, a subsequent PCT application claiming priority of the national application will normally be assigned to the same examiner, or to the examiner's art unit in his/her absence;
(B) in all other situations where a U.S. national application and a corresponding PCT application are copending, irrespective of which application was filed first, every effort should be made to ensure that both applications are assigned for search and examination to the examiner to whom the PCT application would normally be assigned on the basis of the first claimed invention, or to the examiner's art unit in his/her absence;
(C) if a PCT application has been the subject of international search and possibly international preliminary examination outside the U.S., a U.S. national phase application or a U.S. national application claiming benefit of the PCT application will be assigned like any other application, i.e., on the basis of the controlling claim.
The object of having the U.S. national and PCT applications assigned to the same examiner is to promote consistent search and examination results.
Should a PCT application be submitted to a classification unit for resolution of an assignment dispute, the PCT application must:
(A) be hand-carried throughout the dispute resolution process; and
(B) be returned to an examining unit within three working days of receipt in the classification unit.
See MPEP § 903.08(d) for a discussion of transfer procedures.
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