Can You Change a Patent Application After Filing?

There are mainly two areas where the applicant wants to make changes in the already filled patent application. 

1. The first is the name of the inventor or owner of the patent application. 
2. The second is the description, drawings, and claims of the patent application. 
   
   1. Rules and conditions for amendments in the name of the inventor or owner of the patent application: 
   Most of the time the applicant makes mistakes when submitting the name of the inventor or owner for the patent application. Especially, when multiple inventors or owners are involved. This can cause legal issues in the future because according to the patent office law, the applicants are required to disclose all the inventors for a patent to be valid. 
   Luckily, the inventor or owner of the patent application can sort out this error even after the patent application is already filed. The inventor or owner can submit a Recordation Cover Sheet to the patent office. The patent office will process the Recordation Cover Sheet and update the respective patent application. 
   2. Rules and conditions for amendments in the description, drawings, and claims of patent application: 
   Let’s come to the scenario where the inventor wants to make changes or add new features in the description, drawings, and claims of the patent application that is already filed in the patent office. 

   For changes and amendments in the description of the patent application (already filed), the inventor or applicant can resolve any grammar mistake and error in the paragraph number, Also, the applicant can add or delete words, sentences, and the paragraph under the condition that these newly added texts in the description of an already filed patent application must not disclose any new subject matter. In other words, the applicant can add or delete the text of the description only to support and to well explain the claims and drawings of the patent application. 
   Similarly, for changes in the claims of the patent application (already filed), the applicant can only add or delete subject matter that can be defined by the description or drawings of the patent application (already filed). This means, the scope of the new application claim after adding or deleting the subject matter must be within the scope of the subject matter that is disclosed in the original patent application description, drawings, or claims. 
   For changes in the drawings of the patent application, the applicant is only allowed to make corrections in the drawing labeling. The applicant can introduce only those new drawings that can be defined by the original patent application description or claims. The applicant is not allowed to add any new feature or component in any drawing of the patent application (already filed). 
   From the above rules and conditions, it is quite clear that the patent office allows making changes in the inventor or owner name of the patent application even after filing. Also, the applicant can make minor changes to the patent application (that has already been filed). However, the patent office does not allow the addition of new subject matter in the patent application after filing. 
   But there are some methods and processes that applicants can use to add new subject matter to the existing patent application after filing. We described these methods and processes in the next section.