What statutory authority allows for the revival of reexamination proceedings?
The statutory authority for reviving reexamination proceedings is provided by 35 U.S.C. 27, which was added by the Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act of 2012 (PLTIA). The MPEP quotes the statute as follows:
“The Director may establish procedures, including the requirement for payment of the fee specified in section 41(a)(7), to revive an unintentionally abandoned application for patent, accept an unintentionally delayed payment of the fee for issuing each patent, or accept an unintentionally delayed response by the patent owner in a reexamination proceeding, upon petition by the applicant for patent or patent owner.”
This statutory provision gives the USPTO Director the authority to establish procedures for accepting unintentionally delayed responses in reexamination proceedings, which is implemented through 37 CFR 1.137.
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