§ 311. — Request for inter partes reexamination.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 35USC311]
TITLE 35--PATENTS
PART III--PATENTS AND PROTECTION OF PATENT RIGHTS
CHAPTER 31--OPTIONAL INTER PARTES REEXAMINATION PROCEDURES
Sec. 311. Request for inter partes reexamination
(a) In General.--Any third-party requester at any time may file a
request for inter partes reexamination by the Office of a patent on the
basis of any prior art cited under the provisions of section 301.
(b) Requirements.--The request shall--
(1) be in writing, include the identity of the real party in
interest, and be accompanied by payment of an inter partes
reexamination fee established by the Director under section 41; and
(2) set forth the pertinency and manner of applying cited prior
art to every claim for which reexamination is requested.
(c) Copy.--The Director promptly shall send a copy of the request to
the owner of record of the patent.
(Added Pub. L. 106-113, div. B, Sec. 1000(a)(9) [title IV,
Sec. 4604(a)], Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1536, 1501A-567; amended Pub. L.
107-273, div. C, title III, Sec. 13202(a)(1), (c)(1), Nov. 2, 2002, 116
Stat. 1901, 1902.)
Amendments
2002--Pub. L. 107-273, Sec. 13202(c)(1), made technical correction
to directory language of Pub. L. 106-113, which enacted this section.
Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 107-273, Sec. 13202(a)(1)(A), substituted
``third-party requester'' for ``person''.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 107-273, Sec. 13202(a)(1)(B), substituted
``The'' for ``Unless the requesting person is the owner of the patent,
the''.
Effective Date
Chapter effective Nov. 29, 1999, and applicable to any patent
issuing from an original application filed in the United States on or
after that date, see section 1000(a)(9) [title IV, Sec. 4608(a)] of Pub.
L. 106-113, set out as an Effective Date of 1999 Amendment note under
section 41 of this title.
Report to Congress
Pub. L. 106-113, div. B, Sec. 1000(a)(9) [title IV, subtitle F,
Sec. 4606], Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1536, 1501A-571, provided that:
``Not later than 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act
[Nov. 29, 1999], the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual
Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
shall submit to the Congress a report evaluating whether the inter
partes reexamination proceedings established under the amendments made
by this subtitle [see Short Title of 1999 Amendment note set out under
section 1 of this title] are inequitable to any of the parties in
interest and, if so, the report shall contain recommendations for
changes to the amendments made by this subtitle to remove such
inequity.''
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 100, 312 of this title.
