How to File a Request for Continued Examination (RCE)

A Request for Continued Examination reopens prosecution of a patent application after a final rejection — giving you a completely fresh round of examination with the ability to submit new arguments, new claim amendments, new evidence (declarations, experimental data), and new prior art.

When to File an RCE

File an RCE when: the examiner's final rejection is based on a misunderstanding that you believe a new response can correct, you have new evidence (test data, expert declarations) that was not available during the first round, you want to submit significantly different claims that the examiner would not enter after final, or the technology has evolved and your claim strategy needs to change.

How to File

1. Prepare a new response (arguments, amendments, and/or declarations)
2. File through Patent Center as a Request for Continued Examination
3. Pay the RCE fee. USPTO government fees for a first RCE: $1,500 (standard), $600 (small entity), $300 (micro entity). A second or later RCE costs $2,860 / $1,144 / $572. Fees verified 16 September 2026 against the USPTO fee schedule (fees effective 19 January 2025).
4. Submit the new response simultaneously with the RCE request

What Happens Next

The application re-enters the examination queue. The same examiner typically handles the RCE — but the examination is a fresh review. A new non-final Office Action is issued (unless the examiner allows the claims or issues a new final rejection based on new grounds).

Strategic Considerations

RCEs extend prosecution — which extends the "patent pending" period during which competitors know you are pursuing protection but the scope is not yet fixed. Multiple RCEs are possible (there is no limit), but each adds months of prosecution time, a higher USPTO fee from the second RCE onward, and attorney fees for the new response (estimates vary widely by firm). If you have filed two or more RCEs without progress, consider whether an appeal or a continuation with fundamentally different claims would be more productive.

Sources

1. USPTO — Request for Continued Examination (RCE) — Official guidance on filing an RCE
2. MPEP § 706.07(h) — RCE Procedures — Detailed examination procedures for RCE filings
3. 37 CFR § 1.114 — Request for Continued Examination — Regulatory requirements for RCE submissions
4. 35 U.S.C. § 132(b) — Continued Examination — Statutory basis for continued examination requests