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2218 Copies of Prior Art [R-5] - 2200 Citation of Prior Art and Ex Parte Reexamination of Patents
2218 Copies of Prior Art [R-5]
It is required that a copy of each patent or printed publication relied on or referred to in the request, be filed with the request ( 37 CFR 1.510(b)(3)). >If the copy provided is not legible, or is such that its image scanned into the Image File Wrapper system (IFW) will not be legible, it is deemed to not have been provided. An exception is color photographs and like color submissions, which, if legible as presented, will be retained in an "artifact" file and used as such.< If any of the documents are not in the English language, an English language translation of all necessary and pertinent parts is also required. >See MPEP § 609.04(a), subsection III.< An English language summary or abstract of a non-English language document is usually not sufficient. >There is no assurance that the Office will consider the non-English language patent or printed publication beyond the translation matter that is submitted.<
It is also helpful to include copies of the prior art considered >(via a 37 CFR 1.555 information disclosure statement - separate from the listing of the patents or printed publications relied upon as raising a substantial new question of patentability)< during earlier prosecution of the patent for which reexamination is requested. The presence of both the old and the new prior art allows a comparison to be made to determine whether a substantial new question of patentability is indeed present. See MPEP § 2242.
Copies of parent applications should be submitted if the content of the parent application has a bearing on the alleged substantial new question of patentability; for example, if the patent is a continuation-in-part and the question of patentability relates to a rejection based on intervening prior art where support in the parent application is relevant. In re Ruscetta, 255 F. 2d 687, 118 USPQ 101 (CCPA 1958).
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