Fletcher YoderA patentee commits inequitable conduct by failing to cite material prior art discovered by one examiner in a co-pending case before a different examiner, by failing to cite a rejection of a “substantially similar” claim to a different examiner or by failing to cite an allowance of related claims by the same examiner in a continuation application.
An applicant engages in inequitable conduct when he makes a false material statement with the intent to deceive. Under the reasonable examiner standard, information is material when a reasonable examiner would consider it important in deciding whether to allow the application to issue as a patent. Intent to deceive may be construed from the affirmative act of submitting an affidavit containing false statements because there is an implied intent for the affidavit to be relied upon by the examiner.