The USPTO issued a release stating:
On Jan. 1, Phase 1 of the Access to Relevant Prior Art (RPA) initiative was expanded to additional art units. The RPA initiative increases patent examination quality and efficiency through the development of an automated tool for USPTO examiners. It imports relevant prior art and other pertinent information into pending U.S. patent applications as early as possible in prosecution.
Phase 1 of this initiative began Nov. 1, 2018 and imports information (i.e., citations on forms PTO/SB/08 and PTO-892) from the immediate parent application into the continuing application for consideration by the examiner.
For more details, please see the recently published Federal Register Notice and the RPA Initiative webpage on the USPTO website.
Written suggestions and comments on the Access to Relevant Prior Art Initiative should be sent to PriorArtAccess@uspto.gov or submitted through IdeaScale.
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