I found non-patent literature in the form of a letter to the editor correcting a review article. The correction is on point as 102 art for a currently pending published application which is being currently marketed with a lot of attention given to its novelty. The first examiner rejection did not cite this on point reference which is about 10 years old. Can I bring this to the examiner's attention via Ask Patent instead of a 3rd party submission?
1 Answer
Unless the Examiner is reading this site, posting prior art here is not going to do much.
I would suggest considering either:
- a third party submission under MPEP 1134 (if applicable). See ==> http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s1134.html; or
- a prior art submission to the USPTO under 37 CFR 1.501 and 35 USC 301. See ==> http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s2205.html
Another dirty trick is to provide a copy of the reference to the patent attorney prosecuting the patent application and/or one or more of the inventors as they have an obligation to bring to the attention of the USPTO any prior art of which they are aware that is material to patentability.
