Reissue and Reexamination of Patents

With an intellectual property group comprised of former patent examiners, former in-house counsel for major corporations and internationally qualified mediators, we are exceptionally suited to assist clients with the reissue or reexamination of their patents.

REISSUE

Patent owners are allowed to explore the reissue of a patent to correct errors that occurred without deceptive intent during the prosecution of the patent. For instance, patent claims may have been too narrow and, therefore, failed to provide the owners with the protection to which they are entitled. In other instances, claims are too broad and, therefore, invalid. Narrowing the claims in these cases through a reissue application can serve to preserve validity.

REEXAMINATION

A request for reexamination is another option for patent owners. This procedure can be used either by the owner or a third party. The entity requesting the reexamination must argue that the proceeding is warranted because prior art that was or was not considered by the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) during prosecution of the application.  A reexamination is sought typically to obtain a PTO ruling that the existing claims are valid over prior art or to revise the claims and obtain a ruling from the PTO that the revised claims are patentable over the prior art.