MPEP § 909.01
The titles "management" and "assigned examiner," as used in this Chapter 900, include in their definition any person designated by them to act on their behalf.
Assignment of a patent application in the Cooperative Patent Classification system is determined by the C-Star (C*) designations assigned to the application. C* is a binary designation given to the family level Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) symbol(s) on an application that are representative of the claimed subject matter in an application. See MPEP § 905.03.
New nonprovisional utility applications are assigned directly to individual examiners by an automated routing system that uses the CPC symbols on an application to determine the best available examiner to work on that individual application. When a new application is received which, in the opinion of the assigned examiner, has one or more improper C* classifications on the application, the assigned examiner may submit a classification challenge to have a C* designation added and/or a C* designation removed. See MPEP § 909.01(d).
Every nonprovisional utility application, new or amended, and including the drawings, if any, when first received by the USPTO must be fully classified and have C* designations assigned to those CPC symbols on the application that represent the subject matter claimed. Once the application has received these classifications, the automated routing system can assign the application to an examiner. Provisional applications are not classified or assigned since they are not examined.
Utility applications are routed to an examiner using an automated routing system. The automated routing system takes into account the CPC classifications of an application and compares them to examiner portfolios (i.e. the classification areas to which the examiner has been assigned). Additional factors, such as the size of an examiner’s docket, case backlogs within a particular classification area, and the application’s status as a continuation or divisional application are weighted by the automated system prior to assignment of the application.
Upon the receipt of an amendment which makes a C* classification challenge necessary, steps should be taken promptly in accordance with the C* classification challenge outlined in MPEP § 909.01(d). Generally, after a first action on the merits has been mailed C* classification will not be removed from an application’s classification picture.
When, in the opinion of the assigned examiner, the C* designated CPC symbol(s) on a nonprovisional utility patent application are incorrect, they must initiate a C* challenge through the Classification Allocation Tool (CAT) (https://cpc.uspto.gov/ mcc/secure/index.html#/home ) and complete the C* challenge form indicating any and all challenges to any C* designations including suggested additions of C* designations. Every challenge must also be accompanied by an explanation as to why each C* designation should be added or removed.
If the examiner assigned the application believes the application has been improperly assigned to them, but is unable to determine the appropriate C* designations, a supervisory patent examiner, a search and classification expert, or quality nominee should be consulted.
If review of the C* challenge(s) results in a determination that change(s) should be made to the C* designation(s) on an application and a First Action on the Merits (FAOM) has not been submitted for credit at the time of the determination, the application may be rerouted by the automated routing system based on the new C* designations on the application.
If management’s review of the C* challenge(s) results in no change(s) to the C* designations on an application the application will remain with the assigned examiner and a brief explanation as to why the C* designation(s) are appropriate or inappropriate will be provided to the examiner.
The examiner to which the application has been assigned will make the restriction requirement, unless the classification is not reasonably correct and complete. See MPEP § 812.
If the classification picture on an application changes due to withdrawal of non-elected claims, an examiner may request modification of a C* designation, which may or may not result in redocketing of the application.
SPEs and examiners must use the Classification Allocation Tool (CAT) classification challenge pages which create a record of the classification challenge history of each application and facilitates tracking of classification challenges of applications.