Yes. With an express abandonment, you can get a refund of the search fee and excess claim fees. The form to use is PTO/SB/24B.
Thus, in a situation where you forgot to include an important embodiment in an original application, rather than filing a CIP, you might instead opt to expressly abandon the original application, and refile. Granted, you will lose your priority date. But depending on the situation -- the priority date may not be too much of a loss if the new application is planned on being filed shortly after the original application was filed.
Thus, in a situation where you forgot to include an important embodiment in an original application, rather than filing a CIP, you might instead opt to expressly abandon the original application, and refile. Granted, you will lose your priority date. But depending on the situation -- the priority date may not be too much of a loss if the new application is planned on being filed shortly after the original application was filed.