Patent bar Patent term, adjustment, extension and maintenance fees question: patent term adjustment reduced

Answer: D. 28 days, the days from May 5, 2026 through June 1, 2026

Answer: 28 days, the days from May 5, 2026 through June 1, 2026. An applicant who takes more than three months to reply to an action making a rejection or other request is deemed to fail to engage in reasonable efforts, and adjustment is reduced from the day after the three-month date until the reply is filed, regardless of the period set in the action or any extension (37 CFR 1.704(b); MPEP 2732). Three months after February 4 is Monday, May 4, 2026, so the reduction runs from May 5 through June 1, 28 days. Why not the others: - No reduction because the reply was timely: an extension preserves the application, not the term; the three-month clock is independent of the period for reply. - Thirty-one days: the reduction is measured to the actual filing date, not by the length of the extension bought. - Twenty-seven days: the counted period ends on, and includes, the date the reply was filed. - 1.704(b) applies to replies to any action making a rejection, objection, argument or other request, final or not. Rule: Every reply filed more than three months after the action costs PTA day for day, even if an extension made it timely. Source: MPEP § 2732 (9th ed., Rev. 01.2024); 35 U.S.C. 154(b)(2)(C)(ii); 37 CFR 1.704(b); as at Oct 2026