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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Carl\u2019s blog post from Oct. 2019 related to this topic seems relevant though not precisely the same question:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <a href="https://blog.oppedahl.com/how-broadly-can-you-amend-claims-in-a-pph-case/">
How broadly can you amend claims in a PPH case? \u2013 Ant-Like Persistence (oppedahl.com)</a><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><b><span style="color:black">From:
</span></b><span style="color:black">Patentpractice <patentpractice-bounces@oppedahl-lists.com> on behalf of Scott Nielson via Patentpractice <patentpractice@oppedahl-lists.com><br>
<b>Date: </b>Friday, August 2, 2024 at 3:38</span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">\u202f</span><span style="color:black">PM<br>
<b>To: </b>Oppedahl List [Patent Practice] <patentpractice@oppedahl-lists.com><br>
<b>Cc: </b>Scott Nielson <scnielson@outlook.com><br>
<b>Subject: </b>[Patentpractice] PPH: What Amendments are Permitted?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Serif",serif;color:black">If an examiner rejects the claims in a PPH application, what types of amendments are permitted?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Serif",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Serif",serif;color:black">The original notice announcing the PPH program (<a href="https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/sol/og/2014/week11/TOC.htm#ref12" title="https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/sol/og/2014/week11/TOC.htm#ref12">link</a>)
says this:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Serif",serif;color:black">Any claims amended or added after the grant of the request for participation in the Global/IP5 PPH pilot program must sufficiently correspond to one or more allowable/patentable
claims in the OEE application.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Serif",serif;color:black">It defines "sufficiently correspond" as (emphasis added):<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Serif",serif;color:black">All claims in the U.S. application for which participation in the Global/IP5 PPH pilot program is requested must sufficiently correspond to the allowable/patentable
claims in the corresponding OEE application. A claim is considered to sufficiently correspond where, accounting for differences due to claim format requirements, the claim is of the same or similar scope as an allowable/patentable claim in the corresponding
OEE application. A claim in the U.S. application that is narrower in scope than the claims indicated as allowable/patentable in the OEE application will sufficiently correspond if presented as a claim dependent upon a claim that is of the same or similar scope
as a claim indicated as allowable/patentable in the OEE application. <b><i>In this regard, a claim that is narrower in scope occurs when an OEE claim is amended to be further limited by an additional feature that is supported by the written description of
the U.S. application</i></b>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Serif",serif;color:black">This makes it sound like "sufficiently correspond" includes any amendment to an independent claim as long as it narrows the claims and is supported by the original
application. However, the PPH FAQs (<a href="https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/FAQs%20-%20Global%20PPH%20-%2005212015.pdf" title="https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/FAQs%20-%20Global%20PPH%20-%2005212015.pdf">link</a>) say
this (emphasis added):<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Serif",serif;color:black">Claim Amendments:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Serif",serif;color:black">21. The notices regarding PPH indicate that US claims will be considered to sufficiently correspond with the claims allowed by the OEE if the US claims are of the
same or similar scope or the US claims are narrower in scope than the allowed claims. The additional limitation that makes the US claims narrower in scope than the allowed claims must be presented in dependent form. Can applicant incorporate the narrower dependent
claim into the independent claim during the US prosecution if the independent claim which has the same scope as the allowed claim was rejected by the US examiner but the narrower dependent claim was objected to as being dependent on a rejected claim?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Serif",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Serif",serif;color:black">[Answer]: If the narrower dependent claim is indicated as being allowable if written in independent form, you may rewrite the allowable dependent claim in independent
form.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Serif",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Serif",serif;color:black">22. If an independent claim which sufficiently corresponds to an allowed claim in the OEE workproduct is rejected by the US examiner but may be allowable if amended
to include some additional limitation, will such an amendment meet the sufficient correspondence requirement?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Serif",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Serif",serif;color:black">[Answer] Yes, but only if the limitation was one previously presented in a dependent claim that is indicated as having allowable subject matter but objected to only
because it is dependent on a rejected base claim. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Serif",serif;color:black">The FAQs make it sound like you cannot amend the independent claims but instead must add new dependent claims with the narrower limitation. When one of the dependent
claims is found to be allowable, then it is permissible to amend the independent claim to include the subject matter in the dependent claim. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Serif",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Serif",serif;color:black">So ... is it permissible to make narrowing amendments to independent claims when an application is in the PPH?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Serif",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Serif",serif;color:#1F3864">Scott Nielson</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Aptos Serif",serif;color:black">801-660-4400</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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