719.04 Index of Claims [R-11.2013]

The “Index of Claims” found in the image file wrapper of an application is frequently referenced. It should be updated with each Office action to maintain a reliable index of all claims in the application.

The claim numbers appearing on the Index of Claims refer to the claim numbers during prosecution while the adjacent columns refer to the status of each of the claims and the final column refers to the final numbering of the allowed claims (if applicable).

A space is provided above each adjacent column for completion by the examiner to indicate the date of each Office action together with the resulting status of each claim. At the time of allowance, the examiner places the final patent claim numbers in the column marked “Final.”