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John Anderton, Patent prosecution history as a predictor of re-examination success, Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, Volume 2, Issue 7, JULY 2007, Pages 467–472, https://doi.org/10.1093/jiplp/jpm075
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Three routes to modifying patent claims
Under US patent law and practice, there are three methods for modifying the scope of an issued patent: an interference proceeding, a patent reissue, and a re-examination proceeding. In each of these procedures, the claims allowed during patent prosecution can be modified.
An interference proceeding determines priority between a patent application and another application or patent claiming the same subject matter. An interference proceeding is initiated by an Examiner, but can be suggested by any party. The claims in the patent involved in the interference proceeding can be disallowed as a result of the proceeding.
Reissue is where a patent, determined to have a defect, is surrendered and a new patent issued with subject matter and claims examined in light of the defect. Among the most common bases for filing a reissue application is that the breadth of the claims is too narrow or too broad. A reissue application is most often filed by the patent holder.
