By: Darren Crew

Supplemental Examination can be useful, in some circumstances, because it can enable a patent owner to provide the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (U.S. PTO) with information in an effort to protect the patent owner against future charges of inequitable conduct and/or to make a clearer showing of validity.

However, please note that there can be some potential disadvantages associated with Supplemental Examination. For example, a fee of $16,500 must be submitted when the Supplemental Examination is filed, for a large entity. Also, if the U.S. PTO determines that the newly submitted material raises a substantial new question of patentability, then an ex parte reexamination is ordered and this could require two additional years of prosecution (or more) before the process is concluded. —click here to read more—