How is the list of cited prior art documents made available after 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.

After a patent reexamination is completed, the list of cited prior art documents is made available to the public. According to MPEP 2657:

“A notice will be printed on the reexamination certificate to state that the list of cited prior art documents will be available via PAIR by the reexamination control number.”

This means that interested parties can access the list of prior art considered during the reexamination through the USPTO’s Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system using the specific reexamination control number.