Abstract
The federal judiciary's exclusive reign over questions of patent validity ended in 1980 when Congress created the process of patent reexamination.1 Patent reexamination is conducted by the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) after a substantial new of patentability regarding an existing patent has been raised.2 This question may be raised by any person outside the PTO, including the patent's owner, or by the PTO itself.3 Reexamination allows the PTO to determine the validity of existing patents; the PTO may, through this process, confirm the validity of or cancel individual patent claims.4 Reexamination also grants the PTO, at the patentee's request, the power to amend individual patent claims.5 Congress intended reexamination to permit efficient resolution of questions about the validity of issued patents without recourse to expensive and lengthy [validity] litigation.6 Congress's
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
