!082294 An observation on changing patent reexamination Richard Jordan of Thinking Machines recently sent to me the following comment with regards to proposed changes in the USPTO reexamination process. The German aspect is interesting. Greg Aharonian Internet Patent News Service ==================== You may not realize this (if you aren't familiar with patent processes in other companies you probably won't), but the expanded reexamination is taking us to a procedure (which I have advocated for some time) in which all validity issues will be tried before the patent office, in a manner similar to procedures in, for example, Germany. In Germany, all "nullification" proceedings are before the Deutsches Patentamt, not before the law courts. An infringement suit is brought in the law courts, and if there is an invalidity defense, the suit is stayed pending a filing of a nullification action in the Deutsches Patentamt. After all appeals and so forth through the patent office, validity issues cannot be raised again in the law courts. (Appeals can be taken to the appeals courts, in the usual manner.) (Deutsches Patentamt is the German Patent Office). Before reexamination in the US, the only way an accused infringer could raise validity issues was in a Declaratory Judgement (DJ) action in the courts. Reexamination corrected that to some extent, but not enough. One issue in the US with expanded reexamination is how the "on sale" and "public use" defenses will be tried in the patent office. Query whether the lack of a jury right in fact finding for those defenses will have 7th Amendment problems.