Reissue, Reexamination, and Supplemental Examination Strategies and Insights – May 2026

In the mid-2000s, the U.S. Patent Office (USPTO) determined that reexaminations would be more consistent and legally correct if performed by a centralized set of experienced and specially trained Examiners. As a result, the USPTO formed the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) and staffed it with 15 year+ Examiners and legal experts. Later, after the loss of Inter Partes Reexamination in 2012, the USPTO added all newly filed reissue applications to the CRU Examiner’s regime.

Sterne Kessler’s utility and design reissue, reexamination, and supplemental examination team will share practice tips and insights into prosecuting these proceedings before this specialized examination group within the USPTO.

This month, we continue our discussion on the USPTO’s new pre-order paper procedure in ex parte reexaminations, and we analyze how recent USPTO developments clarify the terminology and distinctions surrounding multiple AIA petitions.

In This Issue:

• Part II: Déjà Vu at the CRU: Strategy Under the New Pre-Order Paper Procedure
• Part III: Déjà Vu at the CRU: Early Lessons From the USPTO’s Patent Owner Pre-Grant Paper
• IP Hot Topic: “Multiple” AIA Petitions: Clarifying the Terminology