continuation in part
continuation-in-part. Patents. A patent application filed during the pendency of an earlier application by the same applicant, repeating a substantial part of the earlier application but adding to or subtracting from the claims. 35 USCA § 120. • This type of application contains new technical descriptions from the inventor or reflects im-provements made since the parent application was filed. A claim in a continuation-in-part application is entitled to the benefit of the parent application’s filing date if the claimed subject matter is the same, but new matter takes the filing date of the continuation-in-part application. Continuation-in-part applications are usu. filed to describe and claim later-discovered improvements to an invention, or to distinguish the invention from some prior-art reference. — Abbr. CIP. — Also termed continuation-in-part application; continuation application; continuing application; file-wrapper continuation application. Cf. CONTINUATION. [Cases: Patents 110. C.J.S. Patents § 156.]
