1302.12 Listing of References [R-07.2015]
All references which have been cited by the examiner during the prosecution, including those appearing in Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions or listed in the reissue oath, must be listed on either a form PTO-892 or on an Information Disclosure Statement (PTO/SB/08 ) and initialed. All such reference citations will be printed in the patent. References listed by a patent examiner on a “Notice of References Cited,” form PTO-892, will be indicated with an asterisk in the “References Cited” section of the front page of a patent document. An example of how the “References Cited” section of the patent will appear is as follows:
[56] References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
2,234,192 * 7/1955 Greene………………………… 75/507
4,991,048 8/1990 Larkin…………………………..206/207
5,000,186 12/1991 Amis……………………………267/340
5,000,993 * 12/1991 Thomas et al………………..75/507
FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
9500000 * 6/1995 Belgium……………………..…75/507
200000 * 6/1990 Japan ………………………. 75/507
9400000 9/1994 United Kingdom.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Hill, “Ferrous Precipitation,” Journal of the American Defenestration Association, Jan. 1989, Pages 34– 46.* Clymerhill-Irons, “Ferrous Ascension for the Eighties,” Proceedings of the International Ferrous Ascension Society, Jan.– Mar. 1979, Pages 1111– 1163.
* cited by examiner
Indication of whether a reference was listed by the examiner will be helpful in compiling statistical data related to prior art submissions so that the USPTO can better consider whether changes are required to the rules governing prior art statements.
Indication of a reference with an asterisk should not be considered to reflect any significance other than that the reference was listed on a “Notice of References Cited,” form PTO-892. When an examiner lists references on a form PTO-892, the examiner lists references that are relied upon in a prior art rejection or mentioned as pertinent. See MPEP § 707.05(c). The examiner does not list references which were previously cited by the applicant (and initialed by an examiner) on an Information Disclosure Statement, for example, on a PTO/SB/08. See MPEP § 609 and § 707.05(b), (c) and (d). No distinction will be made in the “References Cited” section for other sources of references. Thus, references cited in a protest, by an attorney or agent not acting in a representative capacity but on behalf of a single inventor, and by the applicant will not be distinguished.
At time of allowance, the examiner may cite pertinent art in an examiner’s amendment or statement of reasons for allowance. Such pertinent art should be listed as usual on form PTO-892, a copy of which is attached to the Notice of Allowability form PTOL-37. Such pertinent art is not sent to the applicant, but foreign patent documents and non-patent literature will be scanned and added to the Image File Wrapper (IFW) for viewing and downloading by the applicant, if desired. Such citation of art is important in the case of continuing applications where significant prior art is often of record in the parent case. In the rare instance where no art is cited in a continuation application, all the references cited during the prosecution of the parent application will be listed at allowance for printing in the patent. See MPEP § 707.05 and § 707.05(a).
When preparing an application for allowance, the technical support staff will verify that there is at least one list of references (PTO-892 or PTO/SB/08 ) in the application. The technical support staff will also verify that each reference on the Information Disclosure Statement has either been initialed by the examiner or lined-through by the examiner. All lists of references are maintained in the application file.
In the first action after termination of an interference or derivation, the examiner should make of record in each application all references not already of record which were pertinent to any preliminary motions and which were discussed in the decision on motion.
In any application, otherwise ready for issue, in which an erroneous citation has not been formally corrected in an official paper, the examiner is directed to correct the citation by an examiner’s amendment. See MPEP § 707.05(g).
Any new reference cited when the application is in issue, under the practice of MPEP § 1308.01, should be added by way of a PTO-892 or PTO/SB/08.