Emory has successfully participated in the USPTO’s After Final Consideration Pilot (AFCP) 2.0 Program, which is available through December 14, 2013. The pilot is part of on-going efforts by the USPTO to further compact prosecution and increase collaboration between examiners and applicants.
The pilot program provides a process for the applicant to have an after final response entered without having to file a request for continued examination (RCE). This initiative provides additional time, up to three hours for utility applications, for the examiner to consider whether the amendment places the application in condition for allowance.To be considered under the program, the response must include “an amendment to at least one independent claim that does not broaden the scope of the independent claim in any aspect” and the transmittal form (USPTO Form SB 434).
In our case, our office received a Final Rejection rejecting the claims under two rejections over new references in view of our previously filed response. In the Final Rejection, the Examiner suggested that we amend the claims to incorporate a dependent claim into each of the respective independent claims to address one of the rejections if we could overcome the other rejection by filing a Declaration. After consideration, this application seemed to be a candidate for the pilot program. We filed an after final response amending the independent claims which incorporated the respective dependent claims and a Declaration along with the transmittal form. Within three weeks, a Notice of Allowance was issued. In our experience, utilization of this pilot program allowed Emory to advance prosecution successfully while avoiding the cost and time delays associated with filing a RCE to have the response entered and considered.
After these successes, it is hoped that after the AFCP 2.0 pilot ends in December, the USPTO makes the program permanent.
Update: Since publication of this blog piece the USPTO announced on November 25, 2013 that the After Final Pilot Program 2.0 will be extended through September 30, 2014.