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Title 35, PatentsRelease 119-110

§314 Institution of Inter Partes Review

Title 35 › PART III — PATENTS AND PROTECTION OF PATENT RIGHTS › CHAPTER 31 — INTER PARTES REVIEW › § 314

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Director must not start an inter partes review unless the petition and any response show there is a reasonable likelihood the petitioner will prevail on at least 1 claim. The Director must decide whether to start the review within 3 months after getting a preliminary response, or if none is filed, within 3 months after the last day to file one. The Director must tell the petitioner and the patent owner in writing, make the notice public soon, and include the review start date. That decision is final and cannot be appealed.

Full Legal Text

Title 35, §314

Patents, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Threshold.—
The Director may not authorize an inter partes review to be instituted unless the Director determines that the information presented in the petition filed under section 311 and any response filed under section 313 shows that there is a reasonable likelihood that the petitioner would prevail with respect to at least 1 of the claims challenged in the petition.
(b)Timing.—
The Director shall determine whether to institute an inter partes review under this chapter pursuant to a petition filed under section 311 within 3 months after—
(1)receiving a preliminary response to the petition under section 313; or
(2)if no such preliminary response is filed, the last date on which such response may be filed.
(c)Notice.—
The Director shall notify the petitioner and patent owner, in writing, of the Director’s determination under subsection (a), and shall make such notice available to the public as soon as is practicable. Such notice shall include the date on which the review shall commence.
(d)No Appeal.—
The determination by the Director whether to institute an inter partes review under this section shall be final and nonappealable.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2011—Pub. L. 112–29 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section related to conduct of inter partes reexamination proceedings. 2002—Pub. L. 107–273, § 13202(c)(1), made technical correction to directory language of Pub. L. 106–113, which enacted this section. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 107–273, § 13202(a)(3), redesignated par. (2) as (1), substituted “the Office shall send to the third-party requester a copy” for “the third-party requester shall receive a copy”, redesignated par. (3) as (2), and struck out former par. (1) which read as follows: “This subsection shall apply to any inter partes reexamination proceeding in which the order for inter partes reexamination is based upon a request by a third-party requester.”

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2011 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 112–29 effective upon the expiration of the 1-year period beginning on Sept. 16, 2011, and applicable to any patent issued before, on, or after that

Effective Date

, with provisions for graduated implementation, see section 6(c)(2) of Pub. L. 112–29, set out as a note under section 311 of this title.

Effective Date

Section effective Nov. 29, 1999, and applicable to any patent issuing from an original application filed in the United States on or after that date, see section 1000(a)(9) [title IV, § 4608(a)] of Pub. L. 106–113, set out as an

Effective Date

of 1999 Amendment note under section 41 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

35 U.S.C. § 314

Title 35, Patents

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110