Under what condition can post-grant review proceedings be requested?

Post-grant review (PGR) proceedings can indeed be requested within nine months from the grant of a patent that has an effective filing date on or after March 16, 2013. This time frame is specifically designed to allow third parties to challenge the validity of a patent shortly after its issuance, and it is an integral part of the patent reform introduced by the America Invents Act (AIA).

The law distinguishes between patents based on their effective filing date, with the March 16, 2013, cutoff marking the transition from a first-to-invent to a first-inventor-to-file system. Patents with effective filing dates on or after this date are subject to PGR, specifically providing a mechanism for addressing various grounds for invalidity within the critical post-grant timeframe.

This provision allows for challenges based on a broader range of issues compared to other post-grant options, such as inter partes review (IPR), which focuses primarily on issues related to prior art. Thus, the specific timing and filing date are crucial in determining eligibility for post-grant review, encapsulating the essence of the reform's intent to promote patent quality and address concerns about potentially invalid patents soon after they are granted.