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The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office closed 2025 by issuing two practice-shaping memoranda on subject matter eligibility declarations, or SMEDs: one to the examining corps detailing examiner obligations, and a companion to applicants and practitioners setting out best practices for submitting SMEDs as separate, eligibility-focused declarations under Title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Section 1.132.
The examiner memo reinforces that SMEDs are voluntary, must demonstrate a clear nexus to the pending claims, cannot introduce new matter and are assessed under a preponderance of the evidence; examiners are expected to articulate how they weighed SMED evidence in the next USPTO action.
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