Manual of Patent Examining Procedure, Ninth Edition, Revision of January 2018

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (``USPTO'') issued a revision of the ninth edition of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (``MPEP'') in January 2018 to provide updated information on patent examination policy and procedure (``January 2018 revision''). The MPEP is published to provide patent examiners and the public with a reference work on the practices and procedures relative to the prosecution of patent applications before the USPTO. The MPEP contains instructions to examiners, as well as other material in the nature of information and interpretation, and outlines the current procedures which the examiners are required or authorized to follow in appropriate cases in the normal examination of a patent application.