What changes were made to the revival of reexamination proceedings by the Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act (PLTIA)?
The Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act (PLTIA) of 2012 brought significant changes to the revival of reexamination proceedings. The MPEP outlines these changes:
“37 CFR 1.137 was revised to implement the changes in the Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act of 2012 (PLTIA) to eliminate revival of abandoned applications and reexamination prosecution terminated under 37 CFR 1.957(b) or limited under 37 CFR 1.957(c) under the ‘unavoidable’ standard and to provide for the revival of abandoned applications and the acceptance of delayed responses in reexamination by patent owners on the basis of unintentional delay.”
Key changes include:
- Elimination of the “unavoidable” delay standard for revival
- Introduction of the “unintentional” delay standard for all revival petitions
- Addition of 35 U.S.C. 27, which gives the Director authority to establish procedures for accepting unintentionally delayed responses in reexamination proceedings
These changes streamlined the revival process and aligned it with international patent law standards.
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