Reinstatement of Abandoned Application

If a patent application is abandoned and the abandonment is unintentional, the abandoned application can be reinstated by filing a petition to revive an unintentionally abandoned application. In specific, an applicant can reinstate an application unintentionally abandoned because the applicant missed the final due date of a response to a rejection by submitting a petition together with a petition fee and a response to the rejection. In addition, an applicant will be able to revive an application unintentionally abandoned because the applicant missed the final due of payment a patent issue fee by submitting a petition to revive an unintentionally abandoned application together with a petition fee and the missing issue fee.

In case the petition is filed within two years from the date of abandonment via an electronic filing system of EBS-WEB, then the applicant can enjoy an instant grant whereas if filed by fax or mail it will take six to eight months to get a petition grant notice. When the petition is filed within two years from the abandonment, an additional statement and evidence supporting that the abandonment was unintentional. Here, the date of abandonment is not the date of the Notice of Abandonment but the statutory date of abandonment.

Effective March 2, 2020, the USPTO requires additional information of the facts and circumstances surrounding the delay to support a conclusion that the entire delay was unintentional when the petition to revive an unintentionally abandoned application was filed after two years from the date of abandonment. Remember that the date of abandonment here is not the date of the Notice of Abandonment but the statutory date of abandonment.