Once the application is filed it will be assigned to an Examiner.  Each Examiner has his/her own case load, but typically the Examiner will review your case in 6-18 months after filing.  The Examiner will perform his/her own search, and review your patent application in light of what he/she finds in his/her search.  Keep in mind that one particular Examiner’s assessment as to the relevance of any patents or publications uncovered might differ from your opinion, my opinion, the opinion of any other patent attorney who you may have consulted, or even the opinion of other Examiners at the Patent Office.  Accordingly, an initial rejection from an Examiner is far from surprising.

If the application is initially rejected, the Examiner provides reasons for his/her rejection in an “Office Action”.  Most typically, these rejections are based upon the “prior art”, and the Examiner’s contention that your invention “is not new” or “not new enough” in light of the prior art.  However, we would then be given the opportunity to respond to the rejections.  The response would be some combination of arguments or amendments in an attempt to overcome the rejection.  If a response is not submitted within the permitted time frame, the application will be deemed “abandoned”.

If the response successfully persuades the Examiner to remove the rejections, the Examiner would issue a “Notice of Allowance”, indicating that the patent has been approved.  However, before the patent can issue, an “issue fee” (currently $700.00 for utility applications) must be paid to the Patent Office.  Once the issue fee is paid to the Patent Office, the patent will typically issue within a few months.
 
However, if the response is unsuccessful in convincing the Examiner to remove the rejections, the Examiner might issue a “Final Office Action”.  At that point, the options are limited, and depend on the individual case.  For example, if improvements were made to the invention since the application was first submitted, we might choose to file a “continuation-in-part” patent application to emphasize the new features which might be sufficient to overcome the rejection.  Often, if the Examiner’s review seems to be unreasonable, we can refile the application as a “continuation”, and hope to get a new Examiner.  We can always formally appeal the Examiner’s rejections directly to “The Board of Patent Appeals”.  However, such appeals are typically not recommended, as they are very expensive, can take years to be heard, and very often result in unfavorable results.  Of course, if the rejections seem insurmountable, you might also choose to abandon the patent application.