Once filed, a patent application is eventually reviewed, rejected and/or approved by a patent examiner.  This can take up to one year if you pay an expedition fee, are 65 or over, or have an extreme medical  condition. Typical wait times for examination other than expedited cases can be anywhere from 18  months to three years. 

Office Action Response Strategy 

Once an Office Action is received, LPS gets to work docketing, notifying clients and creating a strategy  for response. A detailed written response and examiner conference is scheduled. Keeping your patent  protection as broad as possible is the key goal during prosecution. Examiner conferencing is a vital part  of the success at LPS. 

Appeals 

Sometimes appealing an Examiner’s rejection is the only practical option. If no claims of valuable scope  have been allowed or indicated as allowable, and all clarifying claim amendments, supporting evidence  and salient arguments have been entered and considered, there is basically no choice but to appeal, showing where the examiner errs in her rejections. An appeal may be filed when claims of a patent  application have been twice rejected. Even if you lose on appeal, prosecution can continue afterwards,  and the Board’s decision often provides valuable guidance on how to proceed.