On July 22, 2026, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a proposed rule that would amend 37 CFR 1.510 and require third-party ex parte reexamination requesters to identify themselves and every other real party in interest. The statement could, on request, be kept out of the public patent and reexamination files and retained confidentially by the USPTO. Comments are due by August 21, 2026. The proposal would not necessarily make every identity public, but it would end the model in which even the Office may not know who is actually behind a request.
The USPTO links the change to its ability to assess estoppel under 35 U.S.C. 315(e)(1) and 325(e)(1), as well as risks involving false certifications, misrepresentation, or fraud. If adopted, parties considering ex parte reexamination would need a more disciplined review of funding, control, direction, and links to earlier IPR or PGR proceedings. Patent owners may also gain a clearer basis for raising repeated-challenge or eligibility concerns. The filing burden may be modest, but the strategic impact is not: using counsel to conceal the true sponsor from the agency would become far harder. For now, the measure remains a proposal and anonymous ex parte reexamination has not yet been formally abolished.
