<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"">The first thing you must understand is the definition of \u201cPremature
Final Rejection.\u201d<span> </span>A solid consolidation
of Federal Circuit precedent is at IEEE-USA, <i>Comments on Request for Continued Examination (RCE) Practice</i>,
available at <a href="https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/patents/law/comments/ieee_20130204.pdf" style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue;text-decoration:underline">https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/patents/law/comments/ieee_20130204.pdf</a>,
§ 3.6 at pages 32-38 and 72-79 (Feb. 4, 2013).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"">The definition at MPEP § 1207.03 is catastrophically
wrong.<span> </span>It\u2019s remarkably different from
the Federal Circuit\u2019s definition.<span> </span>The
Court has held that <span>its definition of
\u201cnew ground\u201d is grounded in the plain meaning of the Administrative Procedure
Act, and the indispensable due process right to notice of the bases on which a
rejection is based. <span> </span></span><i>In re Leithem</i>, 661 F.3d 1316, 1319 (Fed.\u202fCir.
2011).<span> </span><b><i>The <span>PTO has no authority to \u201cinterpret\u201d or depart.</span></i></b><span><span> </span></span><i>Stepan</i>, 660 F.3d at 1345.<span> </span>Nonetheless, the PTO keeps bringing the same loser
arguments to the Federal Circuit, and the Federal Circuit keeps shooting them
down.<span> </span>In several recent cases, the Court
awarded costs against the PTO.<span> </span>This has
been going on for about 20 years.<span><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><span><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"">I had a remark here about competence, basic integrity, honesty, and the Rules of Professional Responsibility, but I'll let the facts speak for themselves.<br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"">You also need to understand the role of guidance.<span> </span>See <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=4326469" target="_blank" style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:blue;text-decoration:underline">https://ssrn.com/abstract=4326469</a>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"">Once you understand those, now the petitions will make sense:<br></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoListBullet2" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Symbol"><span>·<span style="font:7pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span>16/434,766, Petition of Sep 28, 2023.<span> </span>The Petition was denied in part, Nov. 21,
2023, on <i>exactly</i> the grounds
forbidden by the Federal Circuit and several executive orders.<span> </span>It\u2019s really outrageous mutiny against the
law.<span> </span>But the grant-in-part was got enough that I could go
ahead with the appeal.</p>
<p class="gmail-MsoListBullet2" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Symbol"><span>·<span style="font:7pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span>16/278,112, Petition of Nov. 16, 2021, granted Dec.
10, 2021.</p>
<p class="gmail-MsoListBullet2" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Symbol"><span>·<span style="font:7pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span>14/280,469, Petition of March 23, 2020, granted
in part May 18, 2020 (the examiner had raised a bogus restriction requirement,
I traversed, the examiner proceeded to final.<span>
</span>THEN I petitioned the restriction as the ground to de-final.<span> </span>Two birds with one stone.)</p>
<p class="gmail-MsoListBullet2" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Symbol"><span>·<span style="font:7pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span>14/962,335.<span>
</span>This is Doreen Trujillo\u2019s.<span> </span>Petition
of March 29, 2019, grant June 26, 2019</p>
<p class="gmail-MsoListBullet2" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Symbol"><span>·<span style="font:7pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span>15/247,078, request to the examiner, Mar 18, 2019 \u2013 I withdrew
it when I got where I wanted to go in an interview</p>
</div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Fri, Sep 12, 2025 at 2:22\u202fPM Justin Miller via Patentpractice <<a href="mailto:patentpractice@oppedahl-lists.com">patentpractice@oppedahl-lists.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div><div style="font-family:georgia,serif">All,</div><div style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br></div><div style="font-family:georgia,serif">I am working on a utility patent application for a medical device. Received a first office action with prior art rejections. I made minor claim amendments, had an interview with the examiner, who stated that the application appeared allowable.</div><div style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br></div><div style="font-family:georgia,serif">But I just received a final office action based on new prior art references.<br></div><div style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br></div><div style="font-family:georgia,serif">In the final office action, the examiner states that the action is properly final because the new grounds of rejection were necessitated by the amendments. That seems to be a stretch to me.<br></div><div style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br></div><div style="font-family:georgia,serif">Has anyone had any luck contesting finality? I have read <a href="https://mpep.uspto.gov/RDMS/MPEP/current#/current/d0e69118.html" target="_blank">MPEP 706.07(a)</a>, but it seems unclear as to when the new ground of rejection is "necessitated by applicant\u2019s amendment of the claims".<br></div><div style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br></div><div style="font-family:georgia,serif">My suspicion is that while it is possible to fight the finality of the office action, it is probably cheaper to file an RCE.<br></div><div style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br></div><div style="font-family:georgia,serif">As the bonus question, I welcome any strategies when receiving a final office action. In my experience, when I receive two rejections from the same examiner, given that I always participate in an interview, it is often either time to abandon or appeal. But given that this rejection is substantively different I think a round of negotiation might be helpful. Perhaps I can squeeze in another interview before I respond.</div><div style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br></div><div style="font-family:georgia,serif">Interesting stats (page is slow to load):</div><div style="font-family:georgia,serif"><a href="https://www.bipc.com/us-patent-practice-responding-to-final-rejections-so-as-to-minimize-the-need-for-rce-filings" target="_blank">https://www.bipc.com/us-patent-practice-responding-to-final-rejections-so-as-to-minimize-the-need-for-rce-filings</a></div><div style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br></div></div><div style="font-family:georgia,serif">Thanks for reading.</div><div style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><font face="georgia, serif" style="color:rgb(34,34,34)">Sincerely,</font><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><font face="georgia, serif">Justin P. Miller</font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><font face="georgia, serif">Patent Attorney</font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><font face="georgia, serif">Distinct Patent Law</font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><font face="georgia, serif"><font color="#222222"><a href="https://distinctpatentlaw.com/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">https://distinctpatentlaw.com/</a></font></font></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><div><font face="georgia, serif">Office: 727.513.4590</font><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"></span></div></div></div></div></div></div>
-- <br>
Patentpractice mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Patentpractice@oppedahl-lists.com" target="_blank">Patentpractice@oppedahl-lists.com</a><br>
<a href="http://oppedahl-lists.com/mailman/listinfo/patentpractice_oppedahl-lists.com" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://oppedahl-lists.com/mailman/listinfo/patentpractice_oppedahl-lists.com</a><br>
</blockquote></div><div><br clear="all"></div><br><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><span><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><span><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div><span><span><span><span><span><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;color:rgb(102,127,160);font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif,Arial;font-size:12px"><a border="0" href="https://www.iam-media.com/strategy300/individuals/david-boundy" style="color:rgb(102,127,160);text-decoration:none;outline:none;background:transparent 0px 0px" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="92" width="73" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4wRMgBgcdZCqTw68Gg6ihENvW6_y8dGBqYvnJwiaIyu6LO5a7IJ-cljKsueIE5uxXbT6s9MN5hE2lGU"> <br></a></p></span></span></span></span></span><p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;color:rgb(50,49,48);font-weight:normal;text-align:start;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:15px">
<b><span style="margin:0px;font-size:10pt;color:rgb(96,110,154)">David Boundy </span></b><span style="margin:0px;font-size:10pt;color:rgb(124,134,154)">| Partne</span></p>
<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;color:rgb(50,49,48);font-weight:normal;text-align:start;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:15px">
<span style="margin:0px;font-size:10pt;color:rgb(124,134,154)">P.O. Box 590638, Newton, MA 02459</span></p>
<div style="margin:0px;font-family:Tahoma,serif,EmojiFont;font-size:13.3333px;color:black;text-align:left">
<font size="2" face="Helvetica" color="#7C869A"><span style="margin:0px;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif,serif,EmojiFont"></span></font></div>
<div style="margin:0px;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif,Helvetica,EmojiFont,"Apple Color Emoji","Segoe UI Emoji",NotoColorEmoji,"Segoe UI Symbol","Android Emoji",EmojiSymbols;font-size:13.3333px;color:black">
<font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif,serif,EmojiFont" color="#7C869A"><span style="margin:0px"></span></font></div>
<div style="margin:0px;font-family:Tahoma,serif,EmojiFont;font-size:13px;color:black">
<font size="2" face="Helvetica" color="#7C869A"><span style="margin:0px;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif,serif,EmojiFont"></span></font></div>
<p style="margin:0px;color:rgb(124,134,154);font-size:13px;font-family:Helvetica,serif,EmojiFont">
<span style="margin:0px;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif,serif,EmojiFont;font-size:10pt"></span></p>
<font style="font-size:13.3333px;color:black;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif,Helvetica,EmojiFont,"Apple Color Emoji","Segoe UI Emoji",NotoColorEmoji,"Segoe UI Symbol","Android Emoji",EmojiSymbols"><span style="margin:0px"></span></font>
<p style="margin:0px;color:rgb(124,134,154);font-size:13px;font-family:Helvetica,serif,EmojiFont">
<span style="margin:0px;font-size:10pt"></span><span style="margin:0px;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif,serif,EmojiFont;font-size:12pt"><font size="2" face="Helvetica" color="#7C869A"><span style="margin:0px"><span style="margin:0px;font-size:10pt"><span style="margin:0px">Tel
(646)</span><span style="margin:0px"> 472-9737</span></span><span style="margin:0px;font-size:10pt"> </span></span></font><font size="2" face="Helvetica" color="gray"><span style="margin:0px;font-size:10pt">|</span></font><font size="2" face="Helvetica" color="#7C869A"><span style="margin:0px;font-size:10pt"> Fax:
(202) 318-7707</span></font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0px;color:rgb(124,134,154);font-size:13px;font-family:Helvetica,serif,EmojiFont">
<span style="margin:0px;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif,serif,EmojiFont;font-size:12pt"><span style="margin:0px;font-size:10pt;color:rgb(12,100,192)"></span></span></p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><font size="2">
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><span style="color:windowtext;text-decoration:none">
</span><a href="http://ssrn.com/author=2936470" target="_blank">Articles at http://ssrn.com/author=2936470</a><a href="https://www.keynect.us/requestCardAccess/USA500DBOUN?" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext"><br></span></a></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><a href="https://www.keynect.us/requestCardAccess/USA500DBOUN?" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext">Click here to add me to your
contacts.</span></a></p></font></span></span></span></span></span><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif,Arial;font-size:14px"><span style="font-weight:700"></span></p></span></span><font size="1"><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman""></span></font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></span><font size="1"><span style="line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman""></span></font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></span><span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>