Reexamination as a Limited Alternative to Litigation.

Mondaq Business Briefing, December, 2004

Historically, patent litigation has ranked among the most expensive types of litigation. Congress has listened and experimented with several types of administrative proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in search of a faster, less expensive proceeding that allow challenges to patent validity. The latest incarnation is called "inter partes" reexamination, and it stands alongside the established "ex parte" reexamination action as viable methods for competitors and would-be defendants to challenge a patent's validity.

Every strategy has its counter-strategy, and reexamination is no different. Both types of proceeding have something for both the Owner and the potential Requester to like and dislike. On the whole, the proceedings are...