Model Patent Prosecution Templates

AIPLA's Patent Law Committee maintains a collection of sample documents related to day-to-day patent prosecution.  These documents are exemplary and may not be ideal for every situation. Use them at your own risk.*

Member log-in required to access files.  


Model Response Shells:

Each of these documents contains a comprehensive shell document that can be used to formulate a response to 35 U.S.C. 112, 102, 103, or 101 rejections made by a patent examiner during prosecution.
  • 112 Response Shell (Doc) (PDF)


Model Appeal Brief (updated 3/2026): (Doc)  (PDF)

This document contains the overall structure of appeal brief with a section for drafting responses to point out error in rejections made in 35 U.S.C. 112, 102, 103, 101, and obviousness-type double patenting rejections.  The model appeal brief includes summaries of the relevant portions of the PTAB’s designated informative and precedential decisions applicable to ex parte appeals along with associated Federal Circuit case law.


Model Reply Brief(updated 3/2026): (Doc)  (PDF)

This document contains the overall structure of a reply brief along with relevant case law summaries to use for handling new grounds of rejection in an Examiner’s Answer. 

 

*Nothing included in these sample documents or elsewhere on this site should be considered legal advise on the part of AIPLA or any of its members.

Location

Fairmont San Francisco

San Francisco, CA, USA

Contact

Meghan Donohoe

Credits

CLE calculations pending

Registration

Fee: See reg fees below

Register Now

The Advanced Chemical & Biotech Patent Institute is an in-depth continuing legal education program tailored specifically for experienced patent practitioners in the chemical and biotech fields. This advanced course offers a comprehensive view from both prosecution and litigation perspectives, covering crucial topics relevant to practice in the U.S. and internationally.

Elevate your practice and stay ahead in the dynamic fields of Chemical and Biotech patent law.

Program Highlights:

  • Advanced Patent Prosecution Techniques: Master the nuances of preparing and prosecuting patent applications effectively from experts with 20+ years of experience.
  • Navigating Legal Challenges: Explore the complexities of written description from both U.S. and global perspectives and learn strategies to withstand challenges from the PTAB and the courts.
  • Optimize Your Patent Practice: Understand and adapt to changes stemming from recent legislative updates and USPTO guidelines.
  • Due Diligence in View of Current Case Law: Gain insights into conducting thorough due diligence, considering the latest developments in case law.
  • Leveraging AI Tools: Discover how to utilize AI technologies to enhance efficiency and optimize your patent practice.
  • Client Counseling and Strategic Decisions: Enhance your ability to counsel clients effectively and make informed strategic portfolio and business decisions.

 

Agenda:

Day 1 - May 11th

1:00 - 1:15 PM - Welcome and Introductions
1:15 - 2:15 PM - Inequitable Conduct & USPTO Policy
2:20 - 3:05 - Advanced Patent Prosecution Strategies
3:25 - 4:25 - Global Perspectives on Clinical Trials
4:30 - 4:55 - UPC and Implications for Chemical Practice
6:30 - 8:30 PM - Networking Reception

Day 2 - May 12th

8:00 - 8:30 AM - Breakfast
8:30 - 8:45 AM - Welcome and Introductions
8:45 - 9:25 AM - 112: Written Description Requirement Workshop - Part 1: US
9:30 - 10:10 AM - 112: Written Description Requirement Workshop - Part 2: International
10:10 - 10:35 AM - 112: Written Description Requirement Workshop - Part 3: Interactive Problem Solving
10:35 - 10:50 AM - Break
10:50 - 11:50 AM - AI Tools
11:50 - 12:00 PM - Break
12:00 - 12:25 - ODP
12:25 - 1:30 PM Lunch
1:30 - 2:15 PM - Skinny Label - Hikema v Amarin
2:50 - 3:15 PM - Orange Book
3:15 - 3:30 PM - Break
3:30 - 4:30 PM - Due Diligence

 

Fees:

Members: $495
Nonmembers: $895
Spring Meeting Members: $295
Spring Meeting Nonmembers: $495

 

 

If you plan on attending the Spring Meeting, there is special pricing for this event. You must register for the Spring Meeting at the same time.

If you only want to attend the 2026 Advanced Chemical Patent Practice Institute, select this event and click "Individual Registration".

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you to our sponsors


Please email Lisa Beller if you are interested in sponsoring this event.

Speakers

  • Anoff, Ali

    Procter & Gamble | Director & Assistant General Counsel - Patents

    Ali Anoff is Director and Assistant General Counsel at Procter & Gamble. She is the primary patent attorney for renowned brands such as Olay® skin care, as well as Old Spice®, Secret®, and Native® antiperspirant and deodorants. Ali provides strategic legal counsel to the business to create and protect global intellectual property assets. Her practice focuses on IP strategy development, preparation and prosecution of global patent applications, conducting freedom-to-practice assessments and enforcement.
  • Barton, Matt

    Forresters | Partner

    Dr Matt Barton is a European and UK patent attorney and UPC Representative, and is Partner at Forresters where he heads the Munich office. Having qualified as a patent attorney in 2005, Matt is highly experienced in patent prosecution and drafting especially at the EPO and UKIPO. He has extensive experience of EPO opposition and appeal proceedings, handling multiple oral hearings each year, as well as freedom to operate and opinion work. His technical background is chemistry, with a focus on industrial chemistry, coating compositions, aerogels, battery materials, small molecules and drug conjugates. Matt’s particular specialism is in metallurgy, especially aluminium alloys and their methods of processing and production.
  • Che, Jennifer

    Eagle IP | Managing Director

    Jennifer Che, J.D. is Managing Director at Eagle IP, a boutique patent firm headquartered in Greater China. Jennifer has a deep, multi-faceted understanding of cross-border (US-China) patent matters and the biopharmaceutical industry. Jennifer has the unique combination of close to 15 years' in-house IP experience in Boston (Vertex, Flagship-founded Axcella) together with 8 years being based in Asia and advising on China patent strategy. A recognized thought leader, frequent international speaker, and founder/author of the blog chinapatentstrategy.com, Jennifer guides international clients through complex China patent challenges and building strategic, global IP portfolios.
  • Curcio, Stephanie

    NLPatent | CEO and Co-Founder

    Stephanie Curcio is a recognized leader at the intersection of artificial intelligence and patent law, with a focus on modernizing patent practice through workflow-aligned AI. She is the CEO and Co-Founder of NLPatent, where her work centers on applying proprietary AI models to support established patent research and intelligence workflows by automating high-friction tasks, surfacing conceptually relevant context, and reducing manual review - while preserving practitioner judgment, legal rigor, and explainability.
  • Garberg, Morten

    Hoffmann Eitle | Partner

    Morten Garberg is a partner and co-head of HOFFMANN EITLE’s Chemistry and Pharmaceuticals practice group. Since starting his patent law career in the firm’s London office in 2002, Morten has gained extensive experience in representation of clients at the European Patent Office, specializing in opposition and appeal work. Now based in Munich, his expertise with patent work spans a wide variety of technical fields, including pharmaceuticals, polymers, foods and medical devices.
  • Holloway, Chloe

    Hoffmann Eitle | British and European Patent Attorney, UPC Representative

    Chloe joined the Munich office of Hoffmann Eitle in 2016. Prior to joining Hoffmann Eitle, Chloe worked for a large Italian IP firm in Milan and for a boutique firm in Mexico City. Chloe works on drafting and prosecuting patent applications in a variety of different technical fields within chemistry, including organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, pharmaceuticals and materials chemistry. She specialises in opposition and appeal proceedings before the EPO and has represented both patent proprietors and opponents in these proceedings.
  • Irving, Thomas L.

    The Marbury Law Group, PLLC | Senior Partner

    Tom Irving is Senior Partner at the Marbury Law Group with some 50 years of experience in the field of intellectual property law. My practice emphasizes patent law experting, due diligence investigations, Orange Book listings, and counseling and opinion work, particularly on ODP and MPF. I successfully reissued the patent for the drug Lovenox®, a blockbuster product, and represented targets Agouron, Principia Biopharma, and Endocyte in patent work resulting in deals respectively garnering $2.1, $3.68, and $2.1 billion USD, as publicly reported. I filed an expert report and was cross examined on prosecution laches for CureVac against BioNTech /Pfizer. In settlement, CureVac received $740 million and a running royalty on Covid-19 vaccine sales in the U.S. I have also filed two expert reports dealing with inequitable conduct and one on duty of care in patent filing and prosecution. 
  • Tostmann, Holger

    Casalonga | Partner

    With over 25 years of experience in European and US- patent prosecution, as well as extensive practice in opposition and appeal proceedings, where he has achieved well above-average success rates, Holger focuses on patents in the fields of pharma, polymers, materials science and batteries. He provides strategic advice on patent portfolio management, aligning deep technical expertise with legal experience to support clients’ commercial objectives.
Add to: