Double Patenting and Divisional Applications

Many countries allow an applicant to protect multiple inventions disclosed in a single application in one or more continuing applications. In most countries divisional applications are mandatory because in most, if not all jurisdictions, a single patent cannot claim more than one invention. Where potential issues come up is when an applicant may decide to file voluntary applications to obtain multiple patents protecting independent embodiments of the same invention. The January 2018 issue of Sterne Kessler’s Global Patent Prosecution Newsletter includes information on double patenting, obviousness-type double patenting, and divisional practice worldwide.

In this issue:

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