The ''Manual of Patent Examining Procedure'' (MPEP) is published by the

United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alex ...

(USPTO) for use by patent attorneys and agents and

patent examiner A patent examiner (or, historically, a patent clerk) is an employee, usually a civil servant with a scientific or engineering background, working at a patent office. Major employers of patent examiners are the European Patent Office (EPO), the Un ...

s. It describes all of the laws and regulations that must be followed in the examination of U.S.

patent application A patent application is a request pending at a patent office for the grant of a patent for an invention described in the patent specification and a set of one or more claims stated in a formal document, including necessary official forms and rel ...

s, and articulates their application to an enormous variety of different situations. The MPEP is based on Title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations, which derives its authority from Title 35 of the United States Code, as well as on

case law Case law, also used interchangeably with common law, is law that is based on precedents, that is the judicial decisions from previous cases, rather than law based on constitutions, statutes, or regulations. Case law uses the detailed facts of a ...

arising under those titles. The first version of the MPEP was published in 1920 by the Patent and Trademark Office Society. The MPEP is used extensively by patent attorneys and agents to help make sure they and Examiners follow the proper USPTO regulations. The

USPTO registration examination In order to be registered as a patent agent or patent attorney in the United States, one must pass the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) registration examination, officially called the Examination for Registration to Practice in P ...

tests knowledge of the MPEP and the underlying laws and regulations. The MPEP is available in both PDF and HTML versions. The current version of the MPEP is the 9th Edition, which was released in March 2014. The MPEP has traditionally been available i
paper form
but electronic versions are now used more often, particularly because an applicant only may consult the electronic versions while taking the

, or the patent bar examination. As of March, 2014 the patent bar examination tests the 9th Edition. The MPEP provides guidance to members of the public on how to present persuasive arguments to a patent examiner as to why a patent should be granted on a given patent application. See in particular Chapter 2100 on

patentability Within the context of a national or multilateral body of law, an invention is patentable if it meets the relevant legal conditions to be granted a patent. By extension, patentability also refers to the substantive conditions that must be met f ...

The MPEP comprises the following chapters: * 0100, ''Secrecy, Access, National Security, and Foreign Filing'' * 0200, ''Types, Cross-Noting, and Status of Application'' * 0300, ''Ownership and Assignment'' * 0400, ''Representative of Inventor or Owner'' * 0500, ''Receipt and Handling of Mail and Papers'' * 0600, ''Parts, Form, and Content of Application'' * 0700, ''Examination of Applications'' * 0800, ''Restriction in Applications Filed Under 35 U.S.C. 111; Double Patenting'' * 0900, ''Prior Art, Classification, and Search'' * 1000, ''Matters Decided by Various U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Officials'' * 1100, ''Statutory Invention Registration (SIR) and Pre-Grant Publication (PG Pub)'' * 1200, ''Appeal'' * 1300, ''Allowance and Issue'' * 1400, ''Correction of Patents'' * 1500, ''Design Patents'' * 1600, ''Plant Patents'' * 1700, ''Miscellaneous'' * 1800, ''Patent Cooperation Treaty'' * 1900, ''Protest'' * 2000, ''Duty of Disclosure'' * 2100, ''Patentability'' * 2200, ''Citation of Prior Art and Ex Parte Reexamination of Patents'' * 2300, ''Interference Proceedings'' * 2400, ''Biotechnology'' * 2500, ''Maintenance Fees'' * 2600, ''Optional Inter Partes Reexamination'' * 2700, ''Patent Terms and Extensions'' * 2800, ''Supplemental Examination'' * 2900, ''International Design Applications'' * Appendix I, ''Partial List of Trademarks' * Appendix II, ''List of Decisions Cited'' * Appendix L, ''Patent Laws'' * Appendix R, ''Patent Rules'' * Appendix T, ''Patent Cooperation Treaty'' * Appendix AI, ''Administrative Instructions Under The PCT'' * Appendix P, ''Paris Convention'' * Index, ''Subject Matter Index'' * Chapter FPC, ''Form Paragraphs Consolidated''

Replications

Many third parties have replicated the MPEP in electronic form.

Commercial replications

Commercial replications, that is, those that require a fee/subscription service to access the MPEP include, an iPhone App called, LawStack MPEP (provides free trial), and an e-Book version provided by Thomson Reuters.

Non-commercial replications

Non-commercial replications, that is, those that are provided freely without any fees or charges, include one provided by Tysver Beck Evans LLP and a searchable replication provided by Chhabra Law. The USPTO also provides a searchable replication on its website.

References

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External links

Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) on the USPTO web site
United States patent law Publications of the United States government Works about patent law

Contents

Replications

Commercial replications

Non-commercial replications

See also

References

External links