What is ex parte quayle?

Ex parte Quayle refers to a decision by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences in 1935. The decision established a longstanding policy that examiners could issue a new written decision, called a Quayle action, rejecting patent claims that were amended during prosecution. The decision was made in the case of Ex parte Quayle, in which patent claims were rejected on the basis of indefiniteness. In response, the applicant amended the claims to be more definite, but the examiner rejected them again, saying that because they were substantially different from the original claims, they needed to be reconsidered by a higher authority. This decision established the principle that amended claims should be treated as new and that examiners could reject them with a new written decision. This policy has been criticized for adding an additional layer of bureaucracy to the patent application process and for making it harder for inventors to obtain their patents.