716.06 Suspension After Final Action
If the examining attorney determines that action on an application should be suspended after issuance of a final refusal, the examining attorney must issue a suspension notice. This may occur, for example, when the applicant files a petition to cancel a cited registration or in the limited circumstance in a Section 1(b) application when the applicant files a timely "insurance" extension request but the six-month response period may expire before the end of the extension period. See TMEP §§716.02(a) and (f), 1109.16(d). The examining attorney should not "withdraw the finality" of the refusal in order to suspend; however, in the suspension notice, the examining attorney should inform the applicant that the refusal of registration is continued but that it is not necessary to respond to the final refusal until the application is removed from suspension.
If the application is eventually removed from suspension and the grounds for refusal remain operative, the examining attorney should issue an "Examiner’s Subsequent Final Refusal," thereby reissuing the final refusal, and the applicant will have six months to respond. It is inappropriate to remove the case from suspension and immediately declare the application abandoned.