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1210 Actions Subsequent to Examiner's Answer but Before Board's Decision - 1200 Appeal
1210 Actions Subsequent to Examiner's Answer but Before Board's Decision
JURISDICTION OF BOARD
The application file and jurisdiction of the application are normally transferred from the Technology Centers to the Board at one of the following times:
(A) After 2 months from the examiner's answer, plus mail room time, if no reply brief has been timely filed.
(B) After a supplemental examiner's answer, pursuant to a remand from the Board, has been mailed.
(C) After the examiner has notified the appellant by written communication that the reply brief has been entered and considered and that the application will be forwarded to the Board (for example, by mailing a PTOL-90 with form paragraph 12.47, as described in MPEP § 1208.03).
Any amendment, affidavit, or other paper relating to the appeal, filed thereafter but prior to the decision of the Board, may be considered by the examiner only in the event the case is remanded by the Board for that purpose.
DIVIDED JURISDICTION
Where appeal is taken from the second or final rejection only of one or more claims presented for the purpose of provoking an interference, jurisdiction of the rest of the case remains with the examiner, and prosecution of the remaining claims may proceed as though the entire case was under his or her jurisdiction. Also, where the examiner certifies in writing that there is no conflict of subject matter and the administrative patent judge in charge of the interference approves, an appeal to the Board may proceed concurrently with an interference. See MPEP § 2315.
ABANDONMENT OF APPEAL: APPLICATION REFILED OR ABANDONED
To avoid the rendering of decisions by the Board in applications which have already been refiled as continuations, appellants should promptly inform the clerk of the Board in writing as soon as they have positively decided to refile or to abandon an application containing an appeal awaiting a decision. Failure to exercise appropriate diligence in this matter may result in the Board's refusing an otherwise proper request to vacate its decision.
See MPEP § 1215.01 - § 1215.03 concerning the withdrawal of appeals.
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