Access to Relevant Prior Art Initiative
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is implementing the first phase of the Access to Relevant Prior Art Initiative ("RPA Initiative") to import citations (e.g., bibliographic data on forms PTO/SB/08 and PTO-892) from the immediate parent application into the continuing application. The citations corresponding to the documents considered by the examiner in the continuing application will be printed on the face of the patent issuing from the continuing application without the applicant having to resubmit the information on an Information Disclosure Statement. Additionally, an applicant's duty to disclose information in the continuing application will continue to be satisfied for information considered in the parent application and will be satisfied for any additional information made of record by the Office in the continuing application. The RPA Initiative is being developed in response to public input following an August 29, 2016, notice and September 28, 2016, roundtable event on leveraging electronic resources to retrieve information from applicant's other applications. The USPTO plans to implement the RPA Initiative in phases to consider and address public and examiner feedback at each phase and determine how to effectively expand the RPA Initiative in future phases.
- Task
- Read the news
- Patent or trademark
- both
- Legacy system
- —
- Current entry point
- www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/10/25/2018-23338/access-to-relevant-prior-art-initiative (permanent link in the Federal Register, verified 2026-09-30)
- Legacy system and where it moved
- No legacy system name mention in title or summary )
- Fee
- Fee mentioned in title or summary (Confirmed in the document text)
- What you need (account or API key)
- No account or key mention in title or summary )
- Published
- 2018-10-25
- Document type
- Notice
- Source
- USPTO documents published in the Federal Register (Federal Register API)(retrieved 2026-10-06)
Everything in the same category
Read the news (all 1988) · both (all 2333)
Related entry points
- Request for Comments and Notice of Roundtable Event on Leveraging Electronic Resources To Retrieve Information From Applicant's Other Applications and Streamline Patent Issuance
- Notice of Public Hearing and Request for Comments on Matters Related to the Harmonization of Substantive Patent Law
- Request for Comments and Notice of Roundtable Events for Partnership for Enhancement of Quality of Software-Related Patents
- Enhanced Examination Timing Control Initiative; Notice of Public Meeting
- Pilot Program for Waiver of Patent Owner's Statement in Ex Parte Reexamination Proceedings
- Revision of the Materiality to Patentability Standard for the Duty To Disclose Information in Patent Applications
- Post-Prosecution Pilot Program
- Pilot Program for Extended Time Period To Reply to a Notice To File Missing Parts of Nonprovisional Application
- Extension of the Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program and Request for Comments
- Changes To Implement the Preissuance Submissions by Third Parties Provision of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act
- Duties of Disclosure and Reasonable Inquiry During Examination, Reexamination, and Reissue, and for Proceedings Before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board
- Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
- Changes To Implement the Preissuance Submissions by Third Parties Provision of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act
- Changes To Practice for Continuing Applications, Requests for Continued Examination Practice, and Applications Containing Patentably Indistinct Claims
- Request for Comments on Request for Continued Examination (RCE) Practice
- Quick Path Information Disclosure Statement (QPIDS) Pilot Program