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819.01 Office May Waive Election and Permit Shift - 800 Restriction in Applications Filed Under 35 U.S.C. 111; Double Patenting
819.01 Office May Waive Election and Permit Shift
While applicant, as a matter of right, may not shift from claiming one invention to claiming another, the Office is not precluded from permitting a shift. It may do so where the shift results in no additional work or expense, and particularly where the shift reduces work as by simplifying the issues. Ex parte Heritage, Pat. No. 2,375,414 decided January 26, 1944. If the examiner has accepted a shift from claiming one invention to claiming another, the case is not abandoned. Meden v. Curtis, 1905 C.D.272, 117 O.G. 1795 (Comm'r Pat. 1905).
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