35 U.S.C. § 314
Section 314 · Conduct of inter partes reexamination proceedings
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 112 court decisions — leading case Cuozzo Speed Technologies, LLC v. Lee (2016)
Most recently applied in Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation v. Unified Patents, LLC (June 2025)
Applied most in the Federal Circuit Circuit (45 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 28 U.S.C. § 1295 · 35 U.S.C. § 315 · 35 U.S.C. § 311
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(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.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
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.”
Effective Date of 2011 Amendment
Amendment 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.