application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date of the earlier application as to the common subject matter. A continuation-in- part application is appropriate when a patentable improvement of the original invention is developed after the original application is filed. BOARD OF APPEALS After the claims in an application have been rejected twice, or after a final rejection has been received, an applicant may, upon the pay - ment of a fee, appeal the decision of the Examiner to the Patent Office Board of Appeals. Such an appeal is appropriate when the applicant feels that the Examiner’s rejection is clearly incorrect. FEDERAL COURT Any applicant dissatisfied with the decision of the Board of Patent Appeals may appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. This is an unusual and expensive procedure that can only be justified for inventions having substantial commercial potential.
PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS
IDENTICAL INVENTIONS DEVELOPED BY TWO SEPARATE INVENTORS
One of the main changes adopted by the America Invents Act relates to determining how to award patent applications when separate inventors develop identical or similar inventions. Under prior U.S. law, patents were awarded to the first inventor(s) to in fact invent a particular new or novel invention, irrespective of when those inventors filed a corresponding patent application. As
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