How are third-party requesters notified of Office actions in ex parte reexamination?
In ex parte reexamination proceedings involving third-party requesters, the USPTO ensures that they receive copies of all Office actions. According to MPEP 2264:
“All actions in a third party requester ex parte reexamination will have a copy mailed to the third party requester. A transmittal form PTOL-465 must be used in providing the third party requester with a copy of each Office action.”
The PTOL-465 form serves multiple purposes:
- It provides a ready reference for the number of copies of each Office action to be made
- It allows the use of window envelopes for mailing copies to parties other than the patent owner
- It ensures proper addressing for the third-party requester
If there are multiple third-party requesters for a single request, the USPTO may treat the mailing address of the first named third-party requester as the correspondence address, unless a registered patent practitioner’s address has been designated.
To learn more:
Topics:
MPEP 2200 - Citation Of Prior Art And Ex Parte Reexamination Of Patents,
MPEP 2264 - Mailing Of Office Action,
Patent Law,
Patent Procedure