35 U.S.C. 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 Nov. 29, 1999, Public Law 106-113, sec. 1000(a)(9), 113 Stat. 1501A-570 (S. 1948 sec. 4604(a)); subsections (a) and (c) amended Nov. 2, 2002, Public Law 107-273, sec. 13202, 116 Stat. 1901.)

[*Begin Editor's Note: 35 U.S.C. 311 Effective date provision (Sept. 16, 2011)]

The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, Public Law 112-29, sec. 7(e), 125 Stat. 284, provides as follows:

EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section shall take effect [Sept. 16, 2012] upon the expiration of the 1-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply to proceedings commenced on or after that effective date, except that—

    • (1) the extension of jurisdiction to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to entertain appeals of decisions of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in reexaminations under the amendment made by subsection (c)(2) shall be deemed to take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [Sept. 16, 2011] and shall extend to any decision of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences with respect to a reexamination that is entered before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act;
    • (2) the provisions of sections 6, 134, and 141 of title 35, United States Code, as in effect on the day before the effective date of the amendments made by this section [i.e., Sept. 15, 2012] shall continue to apply to inter partes reexaminations that are requested under section 311 of such title before such effective date;
    • (3) the Patent Trial and Appeal Board may be deemed to be the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences for purposes of appeals of inter partes reexaminations that are requested under section 311 of title 35, United States Code, before the effective date of the amendments made by this section; and
    • (4) the Director’s right under the fourth sentence of section 143 of title 35, United States Code, as amended by subsection (c)(3) of this section, to intervene in an appeal from a decision entered by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board shall be deemed to extend to inter partes reexaminations that are requested under section 311 of such title before the effective date of the amendments made by this section.

[*End Editor's Note: 35 U.S.C. 311 Effective date provision (Sept. 16, 2011)]