CFR > Title 37 - Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights > CHAPTER I—UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE > SUBCHAPTER A—GENERAL (parts 1 to 5) > PART 1—RULES OF PRACTICE IN PATENT CASES > SUBPART H—Inter Partes Reexamination of Patents That Issued From an Original Application Filed in the United States on or After November 29, 1999 (§1.902 to §1.997) > 1.937—Conduct of inter partes reexamination.

1.937—Conduct of inter partes reexamination.

(a) All inter partes reexamination proceedings, including any appeals to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, will be conducted with special dispatch within the Office, unless the Director makes a determination that there is good cause for suspending the reexamination proceeding.
(b) The inter partes reexamination proceeding will be conducted in accordance with §§ 1.104 through 1.116, the sections governing the application examination process, and will result in the issuance of an inter partes reexamination certificate under § 1.997, except as otherwise provided.
(c) All communications between the Office and the parties to the inter partes reexamination which are directed to the merits of the proceeding must be in writing and filed with the Office for entry into the record of the proceeding.