The claims of an application for which a request for continued examination (RCE) has been filed may be finally rejected in the action immediately subsequent to the filing of the RCE (with a submission and fee under 37 CFR 1.114) where all the claims in the application after the entry of the submission under 37 CFR 1.114 (A) are drawn to the same invention claimed in the application prior to the entry of the submission under 37 CFR 1.114, and (B) would have been properly finally rejected on the grounds and art of record in the next Office action if they had been entered in the application prior to the filing of the RCE under 37 CFR 1.114.

This means that an applicant may file an RCE to obtain entry of claim amendments after final, only to be faced with another final Office Action. If the new final Office Action raises issues that the applicant would like to address by further claim amendments and/or new evidence, another RCE may be required, leading to serial RCEs.