Chris Hall provides valuable insights on prior art and continuation-in-part claims in this recent IP Frontline article. Hall, a veteran patent agent, delves into one of the more complex scenarios involving the matters, specifically he explains how it is hypothetically possible that a CIP application, during examination, could have an allowed independent claim supported in the parent application, and a dependent claim not supported in the parent application and rejected with art that is newer than the parent application filing date but older than the CIP application filing date.
Hall is based in Womble Carlyle’s Silicon Valley office where he counsels clients in preparing and prosecuting patents in the electrical, telecommunications, computer software, and mechanical arts. He has 17 years of industry experience as a professional engineer, is sole inventor or co-inventor on 15 granted patents, and is a co-author of the Hi-Tech Patent Agent.