Prosecution and Practice Before the Commissioner
Examination flow
After filing and the formalities check, the applicant requests examination; the examiner issues a first report, the applicant responds with arguments or amendments, and the process repeats until acceptance. Candidates must track the statutory deadlines - the period for placing the application in order and the acceptance deadline - and know that extensions are available on request, often with fees.
Amendments
Amendments before acceptance are relatively free but must not add matter and must stay within the scope of the disclosure as filed. After acceptance, amendment is more constrained: the amended claim must fall within the scope of the claims as accepted, and the amendment must not introduce new matter. Traps: an amendment that cures a clarity defect but broadens the claim; an amendment supported only by the drawings; a request that is really a fresh application.
Opposition and re-examination
Opposition is available within the prescribed period after acceptance, on limited grounds, and is decided by the Commissioner. Re-examination can be triggered later by any person on the basis of prior art. Candidates must distinguish the grounds available in each procedure and the evidentiary burden each carries.
Worked example
An examiner objects that claim 1 is not novel over D1. The applicant responds by narrowing claim 1 to add a feature from dependent claim 4. Before acceptance this is permissible if the feature is disclosed and no new matter is added. If the application has already been accepted, the same narrowing is permissible only if the amended claim falls within the accepted claim scope - which it does, because it is narrower. Rule of thumb: narrowing is usually safe; broadening after acceptance is not.