§302. Request for reexamination

Any person at any time may file a request for reexamination by the Office of any claim of a patent on the basis of any prior art cited under the provisions of section 301 of this title. The request must be in writing and must be accompanied by payment of a reexamination fee established by the Director pursuant to the provisions of section 41 of this title. The request must set forth the pertinency and manner of applying cited prior art to every claim for which reexamination is requested. Unless the requesting person is the owner of the patent, the Director promptly will send a copy of the request to the owner of record of the patent.

(Added Pub. L. 96–517, §1, Dec. 12, 1980, 94 Stat. 3015 ; amended Pub. L. 106–113, div. B, §1000(a)(9) [title IV, §4732(a)(8), (10)(A)], Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1536 , 1501A-582.)

Amendments

1999-Pub. L. 106–113 substituted "Director pursuant" for "Commissioner of Patents pursuant" and "Director promptly" for "Commissioner promptly".

Effective Date of 1999 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 106–113 effective 4 months after Nov. 29, 1999, see section 1000(a)(9) [title IV, §4731] of Pub. L. 106–113, set out as a note under section 1 of this title.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in sections 100, 303, 304 of this title.