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806.04(f) Claims Restricted to Species, by Mutually Exclusive Characteristics - 800 Restriction in Applications Filed Under 35 U.S.C. 111; Double Patenting
806.04(f) Claims Restricted to Species, by Mutually Exclusive Characteristics
Claims to be restricted to different species must be mutually exclusive. The general test as to when claims are restricted, respectively, to different species is the fact that one claim recites limitations which under the disclosure are found in a first species but not in a second, while a second claim recites limitations disclosed only for the second species and not the first. This is frequently expressed by saying that claims to be restricted to different species must recite the mutually exclusive characteristics of such species.
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