Written by: Mark Terry Today, the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) reversed an Examiner’s rejection based on the “well-known prior art” argument. This Quick Post highlights the obligations that must be met by an Examiner when utilizing this form of rejection. Recall that M.P.E.P. §2144.03 states: “Official notice without documentary evidence to support an examiner’s conclusion is permissible only in some circumstances. While ‘official notice’ may be relied on, these circumstances should be rare when an application is under final rejection or action under 37 CFR 1.113. Official notice unsupported by documentary evidence should only be taken by the examiner