Go to MPEP - Table of Contents
2227 Incomplete Request > - 2200 Citation of Prior Art and Ex Parte Reexamination of Patents
2227 Incomplete Request >for Ex Parte Reexamination< [R-2]
37 CFR 1.510 Request for ex parte reexamination.
*****
(c) If the request does not include the fee for requesting reexamination or all of the parts required by paragraph (b) of this section, the person identified as requesting reexamination will be so notified and given an opportunity to complete the request within a specified time. If the fee for requesting reexamination has been paid but the defect in the request is not corrected within the specified time, the determination whether or not to institute reexamination will be made on the request as it then exists. If the fee for requesting reexamination has not been paid, no determination will be made and the request will be placed in the patent file as a citation if it complies with the requirements of § 1.501(a).
(d) The filing date of the request is:
(1) The date on which the request including the entire fee for requesting reexamination is received in the Patent and Trademark Office; or
(2) The date on which the last portion of the fee for requesting reexamination is received.
*****
If the required fee under 37 CFR 1.20(c)(l) is not paid in full, the request is incomplete, 37 CFR 1.510(c), and will not be considered on its merits or have a notice of its filing announced in the Official Gazette. The request is considered to have a "filing date" under 37 CFR 1.510(d) only when the entire fee is paid. Until the entire fee is received, no control number or filing date will be assigned and technically, no reexamination exists.
If no fee is received, or only a portion of the fee is received, the reexamination preprocessing staff of the Office of Patent Legal Administration, Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) will notify the requester of the defect and give the requester a specified time, normally 1 month, to complete the request. This notice does not enter the system. A telephone call may also be made to the requester indicating the amount of the insufficient fee. If the request is not timely completed, any partial fee will be returned by the CRU to the requester along with a notice that the reexamination request has not been accepted and the process has been terminated. If the request otherwise complies with 37 CFR 1.501(a), it will be treated as a citation under 37 CFR 1.501(a). If the request does not comply with 37 CFR 1.501(a), the request papers will be returned to the requester by the CRU.
Go to MPEP - Table of Contents