What happens if a reexamination is inadvertently assigned to the original examiner?

If a reexamination is inadvertently assigned to the original examiner without the required approval, the following steps apply:

1. The patent owner or third party requester must promptly file a paper alerting the Office of this fact.
2. This paper must be filed within two months of the first Office action or communication indicating the examiner assignment.
3. Reassignment will be addressed on a case-by-case basis.

The MPEP clarifies, In no event will the assignment to the original examiner, by itself, be grounds for vacating any Office decision(s) or action(s) and ‘restarting’ the reexamination.

In some cases, the Office may waive rules to consider papers that don’t have a right of entry under normal circumstances, if they relate to alerting the Office about an original examiner assignment.

To learn more:

• reexamination
• original examiner
• inadvertent assignment
• patent owner
• third party requester