What are the third party requester’s rights after a patent owner’s submission following an ACP?

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.

After a patent owner’s submission following an Action Closing Prosecution (ACP), the third party requester has the following rights:

• File one set of comments responsive to the patent owner’s submission
• Comments must be filed within 30 days from the date of service of the patent owner’s submission
• Comments are limited to responding to the patent owner’s comments, proposed amendments, and issues raised in the ACP

MPEP 2672 states: “Where the patent owner files comments and/or a proposed amendment pursuant to 37 CFR 1.951(a), the third party requester may once file comments (pursuant to 37 CFR 1.951(b)) responding to the patent owner’s comments, and/or proposed amendment, and/or the issues raised in the ACP.”