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Patent Reexamination is Getting Faster
Posted On: Mar. 4, 2013
By: Scott A. McKeown
Decrease in Patent Reexamination Docket Leads to Faster Orders
Back on September 16, 2012, the America Invents Act (AIA) replaced the old inter partes patent reexamination system with a new proceeding, known as Inter Partes Review (IPR). Since petitions for IPR are not handled by patent examiners, but instead, the judges of the Patent Trial & Appeal Board (PTAB), the USPTO’s Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) has experienced a significant cut to their incoming workflow. This change in workflow, coupled with the fact that requests for ex parte reexamination are also off by roughly 50% of pre-AIA filing rates, has resulted in an apparent benefit for patent challengers.
Ex parte patent reexamination requests are being processed faster.
