Reissue Application Cannot Be Used To Withdraw A Terminal Disclaimer From An Issued Patent

In In re Yamazaki, No. 12-1086 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 6, 2012), the Federal Circuit affirmed the Board's rejection of reissue application No. 10/045,902 ("the Reissue Application") for lack of error correctable under 35 U.S.C. §251 because reissue proceedings cannot be used to withdraw a terminal disclaimer from an issued patent. 

In 1995, Shunpei Yamazaki filed U.S. Patent Application No. 08/426,235 ("the Original Application").  To overcome an obviousness-type double-patenting rejection based on Yamazaki's earlier-issued U.S. Patent No. 4,581,476 ("the '476 patent"), Yamazaki filed a terminal disclaimer, affirmatively disclaiming the statutory term of any patent granted on the Original Application that would extend beyond the expiration date of the '476 patent.