What is Parent and Child Patent?

Parent and Child Patent application?

Typically, a parent application is the first or prior nonprovisional patent application filed for an invention. Multiple inventions may be disclosed in a parent application.        

While a parent application is still pending, a child patent application is filed (i.e., not issued or abandoned). When a child is linked to a parent via a priority claim, the child application benefits from the parent's priority date.    

Different types of child applications

The various types of child applications, also known as continuing applications, include:

• Continuation application – no new disclosure, just different and/or new claims finding support in the parent;
• Divisional application – no new disclosure, just different claims finding support in the parent;
• Continuation-in-part (CIP) application – new disclosure, and new claims finding support in the parent and/or the CIP.

Continuing applications typically include the same disclosure as the parent application (i.e., a written description and figures), but different claims. A CIP contains new information that was not disclosed in the parent app, resulting in two priority dates:

 1) An earlier priority date for subject matter disclosed in the parent app, and

2) The subsequent CIP filing date serving as the priority date for the additional disclosures contained therein.