818.02(b) Generic Claims Only — No Election of Species [R-3]
Where only generic claims are first presented and prosecuted in an application in which no election of a single invention has been made, and applicant later presents species claims to more than one patentably distinct species of the invention, the examiner may require applicant to elect a single species. The practice of requiring election of species in cases with only generic claims of the unduly extensive and burdensome search type is set forth in MPEP § 808.01(a).