Rejection of the patent application

The rejection of a patent application is a decision taken by the intellectual property office (for example, the European Patent Office, the INPI in France, or the USPTO in the United States) when the patent application does not meet the criteria necessary for the granting of a patent. The main aspects of the rejection of a patent application are as follows:

• Reasons for rejection

1. Lack of Novelty :
   • The invention does not meet the novelty criterion, i.e. it has already been disclosed or is already known in the prior art.
2. Lack of Inventive Activity :
   • The invention is not inventive or is not sufficiently original to be non-obvious to a person skilled in the art.
3. Non-Compliance with Formal Requirements :
   • The application may be rejected for formal reasons, such as errors in the drafting of the application, omissions, or missing documents.
4. Non-Industrial Applicability :
   • The invention cannot be manufactured or used in an industrial sector, which is a requirement for patentability.
5. Failure to Describe :
   • The description of the invention in the patent application is insufficient or does not enable a person skilled in the art to reproduce the invention.
6. Failure to Pay Fees :
   • Rejection may also result from failure to pay the fees required for the patent application or the procedural costs.

• Rejection Process

1. Examination :
   • The intellectual property office examines the application to ensure that it meets the patentability criteria. This examination may include research into the prior art and an analysis of the claims.
2. Notification of :
   • If the examiner discovers any problems, they will inform the applicant by means of a search report or an official notification, often accompanied by a “communication from the examiner” or a “search report”.
3. Response and re-examination :
   • The applicant can respond to the objections by modifying the claims, providing additional arguments or clarifications.