preissuance

Preissuance is a term used in patent law to describe the period and procedures by which information can be submitted to patent offices before a patent is issued. In practice, preissuance commonly refers to the submission of prior art by third parties to the patent office for consideration during the examination of an application. The purpose is to ensure that all material references are considered, potentially improving the quality of issued patents and reducing the risk of later invalidation.

In the United States, preissuance submissions are governed by patent office rules and allow a third party to provide a concise description of the submitted references, a statement of relevance, and a declaration that the submission is made in good faith. The references typically consist of patents, publications, or other documents that may be material to the claims. Once submitted, the references become part of the record for the examination of the application, and the examiner is expected to consider them when determining patentability.

The impact of preissuance submissions is to inform the examiner and the applicant about potentially relevant art before a patent is issued. They do not themselves create standing to challenge a patent after issuance, nor do they guarantee that a patent will be invalidated upon later proceedings. Submissions can be subject to rules regarding timing, scope, and potential misuse, and they may be contested or filtered in appropriate cases.

Preissuance remains one of several mechanisms in patent law designed to disclose prior art before grant, alongside post-grant challenges and reexamination.