What is a continuation-in-part patent application?

A continuation-in-part patent application is special type of patent application that references an existing patent application and adds new subject matter beyond that described in the existing patent application. An inventor can file a continuation-in-part (CIP) patent application as long as the existing patent application is still pending, i.e., not yet issued as a patent or abandoned. There are advantages to filing a continuation-in-part patent application before an existing patent application issues as a patent, and our patent attorneys can strategically draft the continuation-in-part application to claim priority back to the existing application while incorporating new subject matter.