移位修改&发明单一性

1. Shifting Amendments 移位修改
If the application was filed after March 31, 2007, claims amended in response to an office action (OA) must satisfy “Unity of the Invention” with the examined claims. Otherwise, new claims are rejected before the final OA and not entered after the final OA.
如果申请是在2007年3月31日之后提出的，则必须满足针对OA修改后的权利要求与被审查的权利要求具有“发明单一性”。否则新权利要求将在最终OA之前被拒绝，且最终OA之后不会被考虑。

2. Unity of the Invention Requirements 发明单一性的要求
Claimed inventions must satisfy one of the following.
权利要求中限定的发明要满足如下之一
(1)The invention contains all elements of the examined claim 1 and the objects or features of the invention are relevant to those of the examined claim 1.
　该发明包含被审查的权利要求1的全部要素，且发明的目的和特征要与被审查的权利要求1相关）
(2)The invention contains a special technical feature (STF), which is searched only in the first dependent chain of claims in the examination.
　该发明包含特定技术特征（STF），只有在第一从属权利要求链中才会在审查中被检索
(3)The claim can be examined without any additional search. (Practically, discretional)
　只有当无需额外检索时，权利要求才能被审查

3. Our Suggestions 我们的建议
(1) When filing a patent application in Japan 当在日本递交专利申请时
a. List the most important independent claim first, for the above 2(1) reason.
　首先列出最重要的独立权利要求，因为上述原因2(1)。
b. Make dependent claims directly or indirectly depend form claim 1 as well, for the above 2(1) reason.
　让从属权利要求也都直接或间接引用权利要求1，因为上述原因2(1)。
c. List more important dependent claims first for the above 2(2) reason.
　列出更重要的从属权利要求，因为上述原因2(2)。
d. Make dependent claims depend from as many claims as possible, for the 2(2) reason.
　让从属权利要求引用尽可能多的权利要求，因为上述原因2(2)。

(2) When responding to an OA in a foreign country 当答复外国OA时
If the first independent claim is deleted or limited by incorporating a claim that is outside the first dependent chain of claims, change the order of the claims in Japan, because the same amendment might be denied after the examination. (Above 2(1),2(2))
　如果第一独立权利要求被删除或者通过合并第一从属权利要求链以外的权利要求被限定，则改变日本权利要求的顺序。

(3) When responding to an OA in Japan 当在日本答复OA时
a. Try to incorporate all features of original claim 1 into the amended claims.
　尽量将原权利要求1的全部特征都合并到修改后的权利要求中。
b. If the examiner may find that the amended claims do not have objects or features that are relevant to those of original claim 1, explain the same in the remarks.
　如果审查员发现修改后的权利要求不具有与原权利要求1相关的目的或特征，如备注中所说明的那样进行解释。

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
　如果您有什么问题，请联系我们

Thank you,
Aki Ryuka