Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP), Section 713.04, Substance of Interview Must be Made of Record
`A complete written statement as to the substance of any face-to-face, video conference, or telephone interview with regard to an application must be made of record in the
`application whether or not an agreement with the examiner was reached at the interview.
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`Summary of Record of Interview Requirements
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`Title 37 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1.133 Interviews
`Paragraph (b)
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`In every instance where reconsideration is requested in view of an interview with an examiner, a complete written statement of the reasons presented at the interview as
`warranting favorable action must be filed by the applicant. An interview does not remove the necessity for reply to Office action as specified in §§ 1.111, 1.135. (35 U.S.C.
`132)
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`37 CFR §1.2 Business to be transacted in writing.
`All business with the Patent or Trademark Office should be transacted in writing. The personal attendance of applicants or their attorneys or agents at the Patent and
`Trademark Office is unnecessary. The action of the Patent and Trademark Office will be based exclusively on the written record in the Office. No attention will be paid to any
`alleged oral promise, stipulation, or understanding in relation to which there is disagreement or doubt.
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`The action of the Patent and Trademark Office cannot be based exclusively on the written record in the Office if that record is itself
`incomplete through the failure to record the substance of interviews.
`It is the responsibility of the applicant or the attorney or agent to make the substance of an interview of record in the application file, unless
`the examiner indicates he or she will do so. It is the examiners responsibility to see that such a record is made and to correct material inaccuracies
`which bear directly on the question of patentability.
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`Examiners must complete an Interview Summary Form for each interview held where a matter of substance has been discussed during the
`interview by checking the appropriate boxes and filling in the blanks. Discussions regarding only procedural matters, directed solely to restriction
`requirements for which interview recordation is otherwise provided for in Section 812.01 of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure, or pointing out
`typographical errors or unreadable script in Office actions or the like, are excluded from the interview recordation procedures below. Where the
`substance of an interview is completely recorded in an Examiners Amendment, no separate Interview Summary Record is required.
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`The Interview Summary Form shall be given an appropriate Paper No., placed in the right hand portion of the file, and listed on the
`"Contents" section of the file wrapper. In a personal interview, a duplicate of the Form is given to the applicant (or attorney or agent) at the conclusion of
`the interview. In the case of a telephone or video-conference interview, the copy is mailed to the applicants correspondence address either with or prior
`to the next official communication. If additional correspondence from the examiner is not likely before an allowance or if other circumstances dictate, the
`Form should be mailed promptly after the interview rather than with the next official communication.
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`The Form provides for recordation of the following information:
`- Application Number (Series Code and Serial Number)
`- Name of applicant
`- Name of examiner
`- Date of interview
`- Type of interview (telephonic, video-conference, or personal)
`- Name of participant(s) (applicant, attorney or agent, examiner, other PTO personnel, etc.)
`- An indication whether or not an exhibit was shown or a demonstration conducted
`- An identification of the specific prior art discussed
`-
`An indication whether an agreement was reached and if so, a description of the general nature of the agreement (may be by
`attachment of a copy of amendments or claims agreed as being allowable). Note: Agreement as to allowability is tentative and does
`not restrict further action by the examiner to the contrary.
`- The signature of the examiner who conducted the interview (if Form is not an attachment to a signed Office action)
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`It is desirable that the examiner orally remind the applicant of his or her obligation to record the substance of the interview of each case. It
`should be noted, however, that the Interview Summary Form will not normally be considered a complete and proper recordation of the interview unless
`it includes, or is supplemented by the applicant or the examiner to include, all of the applicable items required below concerning the substance of the
`interview.
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`A complete and proper recordation of the substance of any interview should include at least the following applicable items:
`1) A brief description of the nature of any exhibit shown or any demonstration conducted,-
`2) an identification of the claims discussed,
`3) an identification of the specific prior art discussed,
`4)
`an identification of the principal proposed amendments of a substantive nature discussed, unless these are already described on
`the Interview Summary Form completed by the Examiner,
`5) a brief identification of the general thrust of the principal arguments presented to the examiner,
`(The identification of arguments need not be lengthy or elaborate. A verbatim or highly detailed description of the arguments is not
`required. The identification of the arguments is sufficient if the general nature or thrust of the principal arguments made to the
`examiner can be understood in the context of the application file. Of course, the applicant may desire to emphasize and fully
`describe those arguments which he or she feels were or might be persuasive to the examiner.)
`6) a general indication of any other pertinent matters discussed, and
`7)
`if appropriate, the general results or outcome of the interview unless already described in the Interview Summary Form completed
`by the examiner.
`Examiners are expected to carefully review the applicants record of the substance of an interview. If the record is not complete and accurate,
`the examiner will give the applicant an extendable one month time period to correct the record.
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`Examiner to Check for Accuracy
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`If the claims are allowable for other reasons of record, the examiner should send a letter setting forth the examiners version of the statement
`attributed to him or her. If the record is complete and accurate, the examiner should place the indication, Interview Record OK on the paper recording
`the substance of the interview along with the date and the examiners initials.
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