The United States Patent and Trademark Office revised the policy on when a second or subsequent request for reexamination is filed while an ?earlier filed reexamination? is pending, and the second or subsequent request cites only prior art, which raised a substantial new question of patentability (SNQ) in the pending reexamination proceeding. See MPEP ? 2240 (8th ed. 2001)(Rev. 2, May 2004). Under the new policy, the second or subsequent request for reexamination will be ordered only if that old prior art raises a substantial new question of patentability which is different than that raised in the pending reexamination proceeding. If the old prior art cited (in the second or subsequent request) raises only the same issues that were raised to initiate the pending reexamination proceeding, the second or subsequent request will be denied.
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Editor-in-Chief Barista Stephen Jenei is a patent attorney and Owner of Jenei LLC. When not serving up patent chat over a steaming cup of java, he's handling a diverse intellectual property practice in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and chemical fields. More info @ Jenei LLC
