Can a protest include information about ongoing litigation related to the patent application?
Yes, a protest can include information about ongoing litigation related to the patent application. MPEP 1901.02 explicitly mentions this:
“Information which can be relied on in a protest… includes information about other related litigation and governmental proceedings.”
This means that if there are any ongoing court cases, administrative proceedings, or other governmental actions that are relevant to the patentability of the application, this information can be included in a protest. Such information might be valuable to the examiner in assessing the novelty or non-obviousness of the claimed invention.
To learn more:
Topics:
MPEP 1900 - Protest,
MPEP 1901.02 - Information Which Can Be Relied On In Protest,
Patent Law,
Patent Procedure