Inter Partes Patent Reexamination Petition Practice May Back Fire on Unwary PatenteesIn inter partes patent reexamination, a participating third party must submit their written comment to a patentee response within 30 days. Since the 30 day deadline is provided by statute, the USPTO has no discretion to extend this period. (35 U.S.C. § 314). This statutory deadline can be especially onerous in those reexaminations that are subject to concurrent litigation as the issues tend to be significantly complex, time intensive and numerous.On the other side of the fence, a patentee is typically given a two month deadline to comment on an action of the USPTO, extendible upon petition (showing of reasonable diligence toward meeting the current due date). As can be appreciated, third parties must respond to the same issues in, at best, half the time provided to the patentee. Indeed, where a healthy number of new claims are added in a response by the patentee, the third party would need to develop additional rejections/art for the new claims. Due to the relative inequities in response periods for opposing sides of an inter partes patent reexamination, patentees enjoy a significant strategic advantage.As noted above, a third party cannot extend the statutory response time. Yet, surprisingly, unwary patentees indirectly provide this very relief to third parties on a regular basis. One of the more common petitions in inter partes patent reexamination is a petition for waiver of the page limit requirement. That is to say, submissions in inter partes patent reexamination are limited to 50 pages of substantive comment. (37 C.F.R. § 1.943). As it is not uncommon for initial requests for inter partes patent reexamination to total hundreds of pages, Patentees will often seek waiver of the page limit in order to respond to all issues. The waiver of Rule 943 is sought via petition (37 C.F.R. § 1.183).Of course, at the time of petitioning, the patentee is by definition submitting a response that exceeds the 50 page limit. In other words, the “response” as submitted does not comport with the statutory definition unless, and until, the petition is granted. As recently demonstrated in 95/001,206 (decision here) such a filing will effectively delay the time for a third party response by several months.In the ‘206 case, a patentee response was filed on June 7, 2010 along with a petition to waive the page limit requirement. The third party did not file a response by July 7, 2010. The patentee petition was granted on August 11, 2010. In the petition, the USPTO noted that a third party response was due 30 days from the date of the petition decision; thereafter the third party filed their response (some 2 months after July 7, 2010). Subsequently, the patentee filed a further petition seeking to strike the third party response as untimely, in the decision linked above, the USPTO explained:Certainly, it is not possible to adhere to the page limit requirement in all cases. However, patentees should consider the impact of filing a response that exceeds the page limit together with an appropriate petition. That is to say, the cost of additional pages is effectively an extension of time that would be otherwise unattainable to the third par

In inter partes patent reexamination, a participating third party must submit their written comment to a patentee response within 30 days. Since the 30 day deadline is provided by statute, the USPTO has no discretion to extend this period. (35 U.S.C. § 314). This statutory deadline can be especially onerous in those reexaminations that are subject to concurrent litigation as the issues tend to be significantly complex, time intensive and numerous.

On the other side of the fence, a patentee is typically given a two month deadline to comment on an action of the USPTO, extendible upon petition (showing of reasonable diligence toward meeting the current due date). As can be appreciated, third parties must respond to the same issues in, at best, half the time provided to the patentee. Indeed, where a healthy number of new claims are added in a response by the patentee, the third party would need to develop additional rejections/art for the new claims. Due to the relative inequities in response periods for opposing sides of an inter partes patent reexamination, patentees enjoy a significant strategic advantage.

As noted above, a third party cannot extend the statutory response time. Yet, surprisingly, unwary patentees indirectly provide this very relief to third parties on a regular basis.

One of the more common petitions in inter partes patent reexamination is a petition for waiver of the page limit requirement. That is to say, submissions in inter partes patent reexamination are limited to 50 pages of substantive comment. (37 C.F.R. § 1.943). As it is not uncommon for initial requests for inter partes patent reexamination to total hundreds of pages, Patentees will often seek waiver of the page limit in order to respond to all issues. The waiver of Rule 943 is sought via petition (37 C.F.R. § 1.183).

Of course, at the time of petitioning, the patentee is by definition submitting a response that exceeds the 50 page limit. In other words, the “response” as submitted does not comport with the statutory definition unless, and until, the petition is granted. As recently demonstrated in 95/001,206 (decision here) such a filing will effectively delay the time for a third party response by several months.

In the ‘206 case, a patentee response was filed on June 7, 2010 along with a petition to waive the page limit requirement. The third party did not file a response by July 7, 2010. The patentee petition was granted on August 11, 2010. In the petition, the USPTO noted that a third party response was due 30 days from the date of the petition decision; thereafter the third party filed their response (some 2 months after July 7, 2010). Subsequently, the patentee filed a further petition seeking to strike the third party response as untimely, in the decision linked above, the USPTO explained:

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Certainly, it is not possible to adhere to the page limit requirement in all cases. However, patentees should consider the impact of filing a response that exceeds the page limit together with an appropriate petition. That is to say, the cost of additional pages is effectively an extension of time that would be otherwise unattainable to the third party.