Dear List members, I am, sometimes, an attorney. I DO NOT practice in this area, though I do represent inventors marketing devices in another life. Here is the web site for the us patent office patent examination manual......protest section. It is a long post. It is important. http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/1900.htm 1.Any member of the public, including private persons, corporate entities, and government agencies, may file a protest under 37 CFR 1.291. A protest may be filed by an attorney or other representative on behalf of an unnamed principal since 37 CFR 1.291 does not require that the principal be identified. 2 The following are examples of the kinds of information, in addition to prior art documents, which can be relied on in a protest under 37 CFR 1.291(a): (A) Information demonstrating that the inven-tion was publicly "known or used by others in this country... before the invention thereof by the applicant for patent" and is therefore barred under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) and/or 103. (B) Information that the invention was "in public use or on sale in this country, more than 1 year prior to the date of the application for patent in the United States" ( 35 U.S.C. 102(b)). (C) Information that the applicant "has abandoned the invention" ( 35 U.S.C. 102(c)) or "did not himself invent the subject matter sought to be patented" ( 35 U.S.C. 102(f)). (D) Information relating to inventorship under 35 U.S.C. 102(g). (E) Information relating to sufficiency of disclosure or failure to disclose best mode, under 35 U.S.C. 112. (F) Any other information demonstrating that the application lacks compliance with the statutory requirements for patentability. (G) Information indicating "fraud" or "violation of the duty of disclosure" under 37 CFR 1.56 may be the subject of a protest under 37 CFR 1.291(a). Protests raising fraud or other inequitable conduct issues will be entered in the application file, generally without comment on those issues. 37 CFR 1.291(b). 3. How:\There is a form you can get. You must serve notice on the applicant A protest under 37 CFR 1.291(a) must be submitted in writing, must specifically identify the application to which the protest is directed by application number or serial number and filing date, and must include a listing of all patents, publications, or other information relied on; a concise explanation of the relevance of each listed item; an English language translation of all relevant parts of any non-English language document; and be accompanied by a copy of each patent, publication, or other document relied on. Protestors are encouraged to use form PTO-1449 "Information Disclosure Statement" (or an equivalent form) when preparing a protest under 37 CFR 1.291, especially the listing enumerated under 37 CFR 1.291(b)(1). See MPEP § 609. In addition, the protest and any accompanying papers must either (1) reflect that a copy of the same has been served upon the applicant or upon the applicant's attorney or agent of record; or (2) be filed with the Office in duplicate in the event service is not possible. 4. WHEN: RIGHT NOW...ASAP 5. AND at the very least ALL SHOULD REPORT TO THE OFFICE THAT THE APPLICATION COVERS MATTERS THAT ARE COMMUNICATED IN THE COMPOST TEA MANUAL, A COPYRIGHTED DOCUMENT: 1920 Citation of Prior Art Under 37 CFR 1.501(a) - 1900 Protest 1920 Citation of Prior Art Under 37 CFR 1.501(a) 37 CFR 1.501(a) permits any person at any time during the period of enforceability of a patent to cite to the Office, in writing, prior art consisting of patent and printed publications which that person states to be pertinent and applicable to the patent and believes to have a bearing on the patentability of any claim(s) of the patent. See MPEP § 2202 - § 2208. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: compost_tea-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ .