Third-Party Submissions and Protests

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is authorized by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act P.L. 112-29 and 35 U.S.C. § 131 et seq., to examine an application for patent and, when appropriate, issue a patent. The provisions of 35 U.S.C. §§ 122(c), 122(e), 131, and 151, as well as 37 CFR 1.290 and 1.291, limit the ability of a third-party to have information entered and considered in a patent application or to protest a patent application pending before the Office. 37 CFR 1.290 provides a mechanism for third-parties to submit to the USPTO, for consideration and inclusion in the record of a patent application, any patents, published patent applications, or other patent publications of potential relevance to the examination of the application. A preissuance submission under 37 CFR 1.290 may be made in any nonprovisional utility, design, and plant application, as well as in any continuing application. A preissuance submission under 37 CFR 1.290 must include a concise description of the asserted relevance of each document submitted and must be submitted within a certain statutory specific time period. 37 CFR 1.291 permits a member of the public to file a protest against a pending application. Protests pursuant to 37 CFR 1.921 are supported by a separate statutory provision from third-party submissions under 37 CFR 1.290 (35 U.S.C. 122(c) v. 35 U.S.C. 122(e)). The information collected via third-party submissions under 37 CFR 1.290 and via protests under 37 CFR 1.291 is necessary so that the public may contribute to the quality of issued patents. The USPTO will use this information, as appropriate, during the patent examination process to assist in evaluating the patent application.

The latest form for Third-Party Submissions and Protests expires 2027-10-31 and can be found here.

Protests by the Public Against Pending Applications Under 37 CFR 1.291

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