In the mid-2000s, the U.S. Patent Office (USPTO) determined that reexaminations would be more consistent and legally correct if performed by a centralized set of experienced and specially trained Examiners. As a result, the USPTO formed the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) and staffed it with 15 year+ Examiners and legal experts. Later, after the loss of Inter Partes Reexamination in 2012, the USPTO added all newly filed reissue applications to the CRU Examiner’s regime.
Sterne Kessler’s utility and design reissue, reexamination, and supplemental examination team will share practice tips and insights into prosecuting these proceedings before this specialized examination group within the USPTO.
This month, we discuss the latest MPEP revisions and the new information disclosure fees impacting reexamination and reissue.
In This Issue:
The CRU Insider’s Tip of the Month: Current CRU operational statistics indicate the average time from ex parte reexamination request filing to order is just under two months. When reexamination is ordered, the average time from request filing to first office action on merits is just over six months.
Please Note: The IP Practice Tips newsletter series will resume in January.
