Chicago, IL – October 20, 2024 – The recent termination of the After Final Consideration Pilot Program 2.0 (AFCP 2.0) marks a significant shift in the approach to handling patent application rejections at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Launched years ago, the AFCP 2.0 program provided a valuable path for applicants to amend claims post-final rejection without resorting to a costly Request for Continued Examination (RCE).
Under AFCP 2.0, patent attorneys could submit minor amendments accompanied by an AFCP 2.0 request, obligating examiners to engage in an interview and consider further amendments. This collaborative approach allowed attorneys to secure allowances for their clients while often reducing the overall time and expense associated with an RCE. However, examiners faced additional, uncompensated workload requirements due to the absence of extra “counts” (credit) for successful final-stage allowances.
The termination of AFCP 2.0 now leaves applicants and attorneys with limited options post-final rejection, often necessitating the filing of an RCE, which brings additional time and financial costs. While AFCP 2.0 offered a balanced mechanism that benefited applicants and examiners alike, its closure signals a return to more rigid procedural responses after final rejections.
With the end of AFCP 2.0, patent practitioners must now adapt to a more traditional examination path, which may increase both the time and cost for applicants to secure patent rights. As the intellectual property landscape shifts, we at The Law Offices of Konrad Sherinian, LLC remain committed to guiding our clients through these changes, ensuring efficient and effective patent protection in this new era.
For further inquiries, please contact:
The Law Offices of Konrad Sherinian, LLC
Phone: 630-318-2606
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.sherinianlaw.net