By Kevin E. Noonan --
One provision in the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) that appears to benefit (or at least be intended to benefit) patentees is the Supplemental Examination revision set forth in Section 12.
This section revises 35 U.S.C. § 257 to include a new "Request for Supplemental Examination" that is limited to filings by the patent owner (§ 257(a)). The Request permits the patentee to "consider, reconsider, or correct information believed [by the patent owner] to be relevant to the patent," by far the most extensive grounds for Patent Office reconsideration of all the avenues of reconsideration in the statute (ex parte reexamination, inter partes review, or post-grant review). The statute provides that the supplemental examination must be considered by the Office within three months of filing the request, and be concluded by issuance of a certificate indicating "whether the information presented in the request raises a substantial new question of patentability" (SQP). If the Director's determines that a SQP exists, then the Director will order reexamination (§ 257(b)).
Re-examination is conducted pursuant to current ex parte re-examination practice (save the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 304), i.e., by the examining corps and the Director "shall consider" each SQP raised in the request, "notwithstanding the limitations in chapter 30 relating to patents and printed publication or any other provision of such chapter [30]" (§ 257(b)). The benefits of this supplemental examination are set forth in § 257(c), wherein a patent "shall not be held to be unenforceable" bsed on any information "that had not been considered, was inadequately considered, or was incorrect in a prior examination of the patent" that was considered by the Office during supplemental examination. Moreover, the statute provides that either making or failing to make a request "shall not be relevant to enforceability of the patent under section 282" (§ 257(c)(1)).
The statute provides several exceptions to this particular form of absolution, including that the benefits of filing a supplemental examination request "shall not apply to an allegation pled with particularity in a civil action" or to an allegation contained in a Paragraph 4 notice received by the patentee under the provisions of the Hatch-Waxman Act (§ 505(j)(2)(B)(iv)(II) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, codified at 21 U.S.C. § 355(j)(2)(B)(iv)(II)) before the filing of the supplemental examination request (§ 257(c)(2)(A)). In addition, the protections afforded by § 257(c)(1) "shall not apply" to any section 337(a) action under the Tariff Act of 1930 or a civil action for patent infringement under 35 U.S.C. § 281 "unless the supplemental examination, and any reexamination ordered pursuant to the request, are concluded before the date on which the action is brought," thus preventing a patentee to attempt to inoculate itself from an inequitable conduct allegation after litigation has ensued (§ 257(c)(2)(B)).
A significant limitation to the protections afforded by § 257(c)(1) is set forth in § 257(e), which excludes instances of "material fraud" from the provisions of § 257(c)(1). If "material fraud" is found, the Director is empowered to take any action otherwise authorized (including cancelling a claim or claims under 35 U.S.C. § 307) and in addition is directed ("shall") to "refer the matter to the Attorney General for such further action as the Attorney General may deem appropriate" (although such referral "shall be treated as confidential, shall not be included in the file of the patent, and shall not be disclosed to the public unless the United States charges a person with a criminal offense in connection with such referral"). In this regard the statute "preclude[s] the imposition of sanctions based upon criminal or antitrust laws" (§ 257(f)(1)) or "to limit the authority of the Director to investigate issues of possible misconduct and impose sanctions for misconduct in connection with matters or proceedings before the Office" (§ 257(f)(2)).
Fees and regulations are to be set by the Director ((§ 257(d)), with the express provision that the Office is entitled to collect fees associated with ex parte reexamination in addition to supplemental examination fees if reexamination is ordered pursuant to § 257(b).
Section 12(c) of the AIA provides that the effective date of these provisions is "upon the expiration of the 1-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act" (September 16, 2012) "and shall apply to any patent issued before, on, or after that effective date."
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