What happens if a patent owner fails to respond timely to an Office action in reexamination?

If a patent owner fails to file a timely and appropriate response to an Office action in a reexamination proceeding, the consequences can be severe. According to the MPEP:

If the patent owner fails to file a timely and appropriate response to any Office action, the prosecution of the reexamination proceeding will be terminated, unless the response is ‘not fully responsive’ as defined in MPEP § 2266.01 or is an ‘informal submission’ as defined in MPEP § 2266.02.

After termination of prosecution, the Director will proceed to issue and publish a reexamination certificate. This underscores the importance of timely and proper responses in reexamination proceedings.

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Topics: MPEP 2200 - Citation Of Prior Art And Ex Parte Reexamination Of Patents, MPEP 2266 - Responses, Patent Law, Patent Procedure
Tags: Failure To Respond, office action response, Patent Owner Obligations, Reexamination Termination