Reexamination Certificates were authorized on December 19, 1981. They first appeared in 1985. The letter "B or C" and the number of the reexamination processing precede the original patent number (i.e. Bn, Cn or Fn patent number - the "n" stands for reexamination number one or, in other words, the first reexamination for that particular patent). The drawing, which appears, on the front page is to be indexed as a drawing. The appearance of a drawing on the front page is only to be indexed as a drawing page for Reexamination Corticated and Reexamination of Reissues. A Reexamination Certificate may be issued on any type of patent (Utility, Design, Plant etc.).
Background
Upon completion of a PTO reexamination proceeding, the Commissioner will issue and publish a certificate canceling any claim of the patent finally determined to be patentable, confirming any claim of the patent determined to be patentable, and incorporating in the patent any amended or new claim determined to be patentable. These certificates are the same for normal or reissue patents.
The reexamination certificate is formatted much the same as the title page of current U.S. Patents and includes the patent number of the original patent preceded by the letter "B" or "C" and the number of the reexamination proceeding of that patent 1, 2, or 3, etc. This certificate will specify the claims confirmed as patentable and those canceled. Any new claims will be printed and any amended claims will be printed indicating the amendments. Any prior court decisions will be identified as well as the citation of the court decisions.
Reexamination Certificate Document Characteristic Guidelines
Note : The reexamination certificate has the same characteristics as the patent (Utility, Design, Plant etc.), which underwent reexamination.
Abstract
If the patent, which underwent reexamination, had an abstract, then the reexamination certification will have one. If not, then a representative claim is used instead of an abstract. The heading "Exemplary claim, "and must be indexed as an abstract identifies it
Bibliographic Data
Bibliographic data is usually found on the front page.
Claim
Usually there is claim information regarding new or amended claims. The claim information usually comes under the heading, "As A result of Reexamination, It has been determined that:" Thus, when claim information is present under this heading, it is indexed as a claim.
Description
Description data is generally not published. However, any modified paragraphs are published. Such modification usually appear under the heading "Reexamination Certificate Issued..." 1) In cases where the statement " No Amendments have been made to the Patent "is given, the document is not to be indexed as containing Descriptive data. 2) In case where textual data come under the statement," The Patent Is Hereby Amended As Indicated Below," the document is indexed as containing Descriptive data. 3) In cases where no textual data follows the statement "The Patent is Hereby Amended As Indicated Below," the document is not to be indexed as containing Descriptive Data.
Drawing
There is no hard rule for drawings, some have them and some do not.
The drawings begin on the first page of the document.