Third-party public comments refer to any person other than the applicant for a patent for invention who helps the examiners of the patent authority and the public to obtain more information by providing reference documents related to the patent application before the patent application is granted. Most of the prior art documents related to the patent application are used for reference during the review process, so as to achieve the purpose of public review and improve the quality of patents. Third-party public comments provide the possibility to challenge patentability before patent grant.
For enterprises, it is a simple, effective and very low-cost way to prevent competitors from obtaining granted by monitoring the status of competitors' patent applications and submitting third-party public opinions to the patent authority.
There are only a few countries in the world that have set up very little official fees for third-party public opinions, and the public does not need to prepare detailed reasons for invalidation, and most countries can submit public opinions anonymously without providing any personal information. By sending it to the Intellectual Property Office, the submission of the third-party public opinion has been completed, which can effectively avoid direct conflicts with competitors.
Patent application status query: check the status on the USPTO patent query website (https://patentcenter.uspto.gov/)
Timing of submission: Third-party Pre-Issuance Submissions must be submitted by the following dates, whichever is earlier:
a. The date on which the notice authorizing payment is issued;
b. 6 months from the date of first publication;
c. During the examination process, the date when the examiner issues the first examination opinion;
- Filing Language: English;
- Submission method: Electronic form (online submission); Paper form (mail);
- Requester: any person (legal or natural person);
- Official Fee: $180.00