|
|
Manual of Patent Examining Procedure - MPEP800 Restriction in Applications Filed Under 35 U.S.C. 111; Double Patenting806.04(e) Claims Limited to SpeciesClaims are definitions of inventions. Claims are never species. The scope of a claim may be limited to a single disclosed embodiment (i.e., a single species, and thus be designated a specific species claim), or a claim may include two or more of the disclosed embodiments within the breadth and scope of the claim (and thus be designated a generic or genus claim). Species are always the specifically different embodiments. Species may be either independent or related as disclosed (see MPEP § 806.04 and § 806.04(b)) . |