8110 Gatehouse Road
Suite 100 East
Falls Church, VA 22042-1248 USA

Telephone: +1-703-205-8000

Some Early Statistics For Supplemental Examination

By Eugene T. Perez for Law360

In a supplemental examination proceeding (“SE”), information that was not considered, to be reconsidered, or was incorrect, can be reviewed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office upon request by the patent owner. The “information” is not limited to prior art (as opposed to the typical ex parte re-examination based upon patents and printed publications only). If any of the submitted information in the request raises a “substantial new question of patentability” (“SNQ”) the USPTO will order supplemental ex parte re-examination. The USPTO has estimated that “it will receive about 1,430 … requests for supplemental examination annually.”[1] At the same time, the USPTO estimated that it would receive about 110 requests for ex parte re-examination annually.[2]

Subscribers to Law360 can read the rest of the article here.