What happens if a third party requester doesn’t comment on a patent owner’s response in inter partes reexamination?

This page is an FAQ based on guidance from the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure. It is provided as guidance, with links to the ground truth sources. This is information only: it is not legal advice.

If a third party requester does not file timely written comments on a patent owner’s response in inter partes reexamination, any subsequent submission of comments on that specific response will be refused consideration. However, this does not affect the requester’s rights to comment on future patent owner responses.

As stated in MPEP 2666.20:

“Where a third party requester does not timely file written comments on a patent owner response, any subsequent submission of comments on that response will be refused consideration. The third party requester does not, however, lose any rights as to commenting on future patent owner responses.”