2. DIVISIONAL APPLICATION:
* Applicant can amendment (or file divisional application) freely at any time before 1st official action is issued.
However, after the 1st official action is issued, applicant can file divisional application(s) only when amendment is allowed (Article 44) in the present Patent Law (effective after 1994). Therefore, a chance of this amendment (= chance of divisional application) is limited substantially following two times (a) and (b) after the substantial examination started *:
(a) at the response to the official action, and
(b) at the filing of Appeal,
Attention
There is no chance of filing a divisional application if the case is granted in Appeal procedure without any official action. Therefore, in case of a critically important case or invention, it should be considered to file a divisional application at the time of Appeal to keep the case or to keep a possibility of further amendment.