human: What is the effective date of the amendment to 35 U.S.C. 103(c) by the Cooperative Research and Technology Enhancement Act of 2004 (CREATE Act)?
assistant: The CREATE Act was enacted on December 10, 2004, and is effective for all patents, including reissued patents, granted on or after the enactment date. In other words, it is effective for all patent applications pending on or after December 10, 2004. The CREATE Act also effectively makes the 1999 amendment to 35 U.S.C. 103(c) applicable to any applications filed prior to November 29, 1999 and were pending on December 10, 2004. The 1999 amendment to 35 U.S.C. 103(c) added certain commonly owned or assigned prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(e) to the prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(f) and (g) that can be disqualified under 35 U.S.C. 103(c). For the 1999 amendment, see § 4807 of the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 ( see Pub. L. 106-113, 113 Stat. 1501, 1501A-591 (1999)). Because the CREATE Act applies only to patents granted on or after December 10, 2004, the recapture doctrine may prevent the presentation of claims in reissue applications that had been amended or cancelled (e.g., to avoid a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) based upon subject matter that may now be disqualified under the CREATE Act) during the prosecution of the application which resulted in the patent being issued. See H.R. Rep. No. 108-425, at 6-7 (2003). The CREATE Act also applies to all reexamination proceedings in which the patent being reexamined was granted on or after December 10, 2004.