Q) Claims (10.00.50p)

50. Which of the following is not a USPTO recommendation or requirement?

(A) Claims should be arranged in order of scope so that the first claim presented is the least restrictive.
(B) Product and process claims should be separately grouped.
(C) Every application should contain no more than three dependent claims.
(D) A claim which depends from a dependent claim should not be separated from that dependent claim by any claim which does not also depend from the dependent claim.
(E) Each claim should start with a capital letter and end with a period.

50. ANSWER: (C). The USPTO does not require or recommend a minimum or maximum number of dependent claims. 37 C.F.R. § 1.75(c). (A) is a USPTO recommendation. See MPEP 608.01(m) (“Claims should preferably be arranged in order of scope so that the first claim presented is the least restrictive.”). (B) is a USPTO recommendation. See MPEP 608.01(m) (“Similarly, product and process claims should be separately grouped.”). (D) is a PTO recommendation. See MPEP 608.01(n), part IV. (E) is a USPTO requirement. See MPEP 608.01(m) (“Each claim begins with a capital letter and ends with a period.”).