The Final Rejection

You will have a limited amount of time to respond to the Final rejection in the event that you get one.  If you choose not to respond, your application will of course be abandoned.

You should realize that Final rejections may be sent out as a first, second or final Office action.  For example, if the examiner receives a patent claiming an invention that is already common knowledge and there is nothing new about it, then a Final rejection might be sent out right away.  Examiners will not go through the motions of an examination when it is blatantly obvious that the application will never, ever stand to gain a patent. 

What to do if you receive a Final Rejection?

After the Final rejection has been sent out, you will have three months from its mailing date to send in an appropriate reply or the application will be abandoned.  If you cannot overcome the rejections in your reply it is still possible to Appeal and gain allowance, this is an expensive and time consuming pursuit. Make sure your application really has some merit before you consider pursuing an appeal.