October 11, 2024

Managing Intellectual Property Quotes Michele Van Patten Frank on the Aftermath of a USPTO Program Termination

1 min

On October 11, 2024, Managing Intellectual Property quoted Michele Van Patten Frank on the possible impacts of the USPTO terminating its After Final Consideration Pilot Program (AFCP) 2.0. According to the article, the program went into effect over a decade ago and was notable for allowing some applicants to request that examiners consider an amendment without paying fees in some cases.

Managing Intellectual Property reported that even without the AFCP 2.0, applicants may still submit an After-Final Response (AFR). One key difference between these offerings is the use of examiner interviews. However, Frank shared that, “in her experience, the examiner did not schedule an interview with the applicant when the AFCP 2.0 did not result in allowable claims.”

Frank explained that “filing an AFR can get her feedback, which could help her determine whether it's worth filing an RCE.”

She expanded on this: “The examiner could say they won't allow [the claims] because the amendments raise new issues for consideration and they have to do further searching, which could be a good indication that maybe I should go with an RCE.”

Click here to access the article.