MPEP Section 2013, Protests Involving Issues of Fraud, Inequitable Conduct, and/or Violation of Duty of Disclosure

Executive summary:

This document contains Section 2013 ("Protests Involving Issues of Fraud, Inequitable Conduct, and/or Violation of Duty of Disclosure") of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (the "M.P.E.P."), Eighth Edition, Eighth Revision (July 2010). This page was last updated in January 2011. You may return to the section index to find a particular section. Alternatively, you may search the MPEP using the search box that appears on the left side of every page of BitLaw--you may restrict your search to the MPEP on the search results page.

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2013 Protests Involving Issues of Fraud, Inequitable Conduct, and/or Violation of Duty of Disclosure [R-2]

37 CFR 1.291 permits protests by the public against pending applications.

Submissions under 37 CFR 1.291 are not limited to prior art documents such as patents and publications, but are intended to include any information, which in the protestor's opinion, would make or have made the grant of the patent improper (see MPEP § 1901.02). This includes, of course, information indicating the presence of "fraud" or "inequitable conduct" or "violation of the duty of disclosure," which will be entered in the appli­cation file, generally without comment >other than to state that such information will not be considered (see MPEP § 2010).< See MPEP § 1901.06.

Protests should be in conformance with 37 CFR 1.291(a) and (b), and include a statement of the alleged facts involved, the point or points to be reviewed, and the action requested. Any briefs or memoranda in support of the petition, and any affidavits, declarations, depositions, exhibits, or other material in support of the alleged facts, should accompany the protest.