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Should I withdraw my application and file again?
Withdrawing and refiling can give you a fresh start, but only before anything has become public. Once the application is published, refiling the same invention rarely helps.
Withdrawal and refiling is possible, but you will lose the original date.
High complexity - significant legal consequences
Please review this with an advocate, patent attorney or registered patent agent before you act. Do not rely on this answer alone.
- You can withdraw at any time before grant by a request on Form 29 (section 11B(4), proviso (i), and rule 26).
- The new application gets a new date. Anyone else's filing or publication in between can be cited against it.
- Some countries accept the new application as a basis for priority only if the earlier one was withdrawn unpublished, with no rights outstanding and without having served as a basis for priority (Paris Convention, Article 4C(4)).
- Before withdrawing, compare the alternatives: amendment, post-dating by up to six months, or a divisional.
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Educational guidance only - not legal advice. Do not rely on it. It cannot see your documents, your dates or the prior art, and those usually decide the answer. Laws, rules, forms, fees and deadlines change. Please review your situation with a qualified advocate, patent attorney or registered patent agent before you act or decide not to act.
Not sure whether this applies to your invention?
The honest answer usually needs someone to look at your actual disclosure, your timeline and the prior art. That is a conversation, not an article.