Can a patent owner be notified by telephone about an omission in their response?

No, a patent owner cannot be notified by telephone about an omission in their response during inter partes reexamination. MPEP 2666.30 explicitly states:

“It should be noted that the patent owner cannot simply be notified by telephone that the omission must be supplied within the remaining time period for response. This notification would be an interview, and interviews are prohibited in inter partes reexamination. 37 CFR 1.955.”

Instead, the examiner must issue a written notification to the patent owner, typically using Form Paragraph 26.06, to inform them of the deficiency and provide a new time period for response.

To learn more:

• inter partes reexamination
• telephone notification
• omission
• written notification