How does the “reasonable likelihood that the requester will prevail” standard differ from the SNQ standard?
The “reasonable likelihood that the requester will prevail” (RLP) standard was introduced for reexaminations filed between September 16, 2011, and September 16, 2012. This standard is considered more stringent than the “substantial new question of patentability” (SNQ) standard.
According to the MPEP, which cites House Rep. 112-98:
“The threshold for initiating an inter partes review is elevated from ‘significant new question of patentability’–a standard that currently allows 95% of all requests to be granted–to a standard requiring petitioners to present information showing that their challenge has a reasonable likelihood of success.”
This indicates that the RLP standard requires a higher level of proof than the SNQ standard, making it more challenging for requesters to initiate a reexamination.
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