What happens to claims linked in a restriction requirement?

When a restriction requirement is issued during the examination process, the claims that are linked to it are not evaluated together with the claims of the elected invention. However, they are preserved for potential consideration in a later examination if the applicant decides to pursue them in a divisional application after the elected claims are processed. This means that the claims connected by the restriction requirement could be examined later if the applicant files a new application that includes those claims or if they elect to pursue them following the processing of the elected claims.

The reasoning behind this is that the restriction requirement is a tool used by the examiner to ensure that the examination process remains manageable and focused on one invention at a time. Therefore, while the claims are set aside during the examination of the elected claims, they remain available for the applicant to assert in subsequent actions, which is why they are evaluated with the elected material's claims at later stages if pursued.