What are the consequences of a patent owner failing to respond to an Office action in an inter partes reexamination?

Failing to respond to an Office action in an inter partes reexamination can have serious consequences for the patent owner. While the MPEP section provided doesn’t directly address this, it refers to another section that does: “See MPEP § 2666.10 for the consequences of the failure by the patent owner to respond to the Office…

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What happens if an applicant fails to respond to a notification of refusal within the time limit?

If an applicant fails to respond to a notification of refusal within the prescribed time limit, the international design application will be considered abandoned with respect to the United States. This is outlined in MPEP 2920.05(a): “Failure to timely respond to a notification of refusal will result in abandonment of the application as to the…

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What is the difference between express abandonment and failure to respond?

Express abandonment and failure to respond are two distinct ways a patent application can be abandoned, but they have important differences: Express abandonment is a voluntary action taken by the applicant to formally abandon the application. It requires a written statement filed with the USPTO during the pendency of the application. Failure to respond results…

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