Galileo's conclusion is that the method would work in principle, but the measuring techniques are not accurate enough to provide meaningful results; therefore, the patent was denied.
[4] Rules 290 (37 CFR 1.290) and 35 USC 122(e) control the submission of prior-art references by third parties after the publication of an application and before the issuance of the patent.
In contrast to European practice, however, third parties are not allowed to provide any additional explanation of the relevance of the prior art.
[7] In Australia, any person can file observations (by reference to prior art) in regard to the novelty or inventive step (i.e. non-obviousness) of a pending patent application.
[8] In July 2012, a third-party observation system was also introduced for Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications.
[10] The observations can be made at any time from the publication of the PCT application until the expiration of 28 months from the priority date.
[14] The claimed purpose is the improvement of the quality of the patent examination, as well as any re-examinations, through the involvement of the public, to help identify any relevant prior art.
[citation needed] According to Dave Kappos, former vice president for intellectual-property law at IBM, and later head of the USPTO, "it's a very powerful concept because it leverages the enormous capabilities of the entire world of technical talent.
History of virtual learning environments, for example, is an article that was created primarily to list prior art that would potentially invalidate U.S. patent 6,988,138, "Internet-based education support system and methods".
[19] While the lawsuit was moving forward, the Software Freedom Law Center filed for a reexamination citing that new prior art had been discovered that raised a substantial new question of validity.
[21] The program organizers anticipate having 250 pending software patent applications reviewed by members of the interested public.
General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, and Oracle Corporation each have volunteered some of their pending patent applications for review.
Article One Partners provides a community review format for enlisting members of the public to search for prior art for already issued patents.
[28] The now defunct BountyQuest[29] was an early attempt to recruit members of the public to search for prior art for issued patents.