Final Rejection Law and Legal Definition
Final rejection is the process by which the USPTO rejects an inventor’s patent application. If the examiner receives a patent claiming an invention that is already common knowledge and there is nothing new about it, then the USPTO may finally reject such application. When an application is finally rejected, the inventor has the following options namely, to abandon the application, request a face-to-face or telephonic interview with the examiner, make a request for continued examination, file a continuation application, file a continuation in part application, or appeal.
The inventor will have three months from the mailing date of final rejection to send in an appropriate reply. If the inventor fails to send a reply within the stipulated period, his/her application will be abandoned.