Appeal No. 1999-0663 Application 08/624,047 53, 131, 53, 197 (Oct. 10, 1997), 1203 Off. Gaz. Pat. & Trademark Office 63, 122 (Oct. 21, 1997)). 37 CFR § 1.196(b) provides, “A new ground of rejection shall not be considered final for purposes of judicial review.” Regarding any affirmed rejection, 37 CFR § 1.197(b) provides: (b) Appellants may file a single request for rehearing within two months from the date of the original decision ... 37 CFR § 1.196(b) also provides that the appellants, WITHIN TWO MONTHS FROM THE DATE OF THE DECISION, must exercise one of the following two options with respect to the new ground of rejection to avoid termination of proceedings (37 CFR § 1.197(c)) as to the rejected claims: (1) Submit an appropriate amendment of the claims so rejected or a showing of facts relating to the claims so rejected, or both, and have the matter reconsidered by the examiner, in which event the application will be remanded to the examiner.... (2) Request that the application be reheard under § 1.197(b) by the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences upon the same record.... Should the appellants elect to prosecute further before the Primary Examiner pursuant to 37 CFR § 1.196(b)(1), in order to preserve the right to seek review under 35 U.S.C. § § 141 or 145 with respect to the affirmed rejection, the effective date of the 13Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007