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USPTO MPEP › Chapter 0700 - Examination of Applications › MPEP § 704.01
Text
After reading the specification and claims, the examiner searches the
prior art. The subject of searching is more fully treated in
MPEP Chapter 900
. See
especially
MPEP §§
904
through
904.03
. The invention should be
thoroughly understood before a search is undertaken. However, informal cases, or those
which can only be imperfectly understood when they come up for action in their regular
turn are also given a search, in order to avoid piecemeal prosecution.
PREVIOUS EXAMINER’S SEARCH
When an examiner is assigned to act on an application which has
received one or more actions by some other examiner, the examiner should review the
previous search to ensure it is thorough and complete. See
MPEP § 904.02
. In
general the second examiner should not take an entirely new approach to the
application or attempt to reorient the point of view of the previous examiner, or
make a new search in the mere hope of finding something. See
MPEP § 719.05
.
This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.