After a Board decision in an appeal, what can an applicant do?

After a Board decision in an appeal, an applicant has several options available to them, each serving different strategic purposes in the patent prosecution process.

Requesting a rehearing before the Board offers the applicant a chance to address any perceived errors in the Board's decision. This can be particularly important if the applicant believes that significant aspects of their arguments were overlooked or if they have additional evidence that may affect the outcome.

Filing a new appeal immediately, while more unusual, is also a route that can be taken if the applicant believes that the Board's decision is fundamentally flawed or if there are new grounds for appeal that were not part of the original case. This option recognizes that the applicant may have ongoing legal grounds to contest the rejection.

Submitting an amendment to modify claims allows the applicant to adjust the scope or content of their patent claims in response to the Board's decision. This is a common strategy employed to overcome rejections by addressing the specific issues raised by the Board.

Since all these actions are valid steps that an applicant can take following a Board's decision, the choice that encompasses all these options accurately reflects the applicant's rights. Therefore, the correct response is that all of these actions are available to the applicant after a Board decision.