Third parties can submit patents and publications for consideration during patent examination under the pre-issuance submission process. Submissions can be made electronically or on paper before the first office action or within 6 months of publication. The PTO will review submissions for compliance before notifying the applicant. Examples show submissions leading examiners to issue rejections or notices being sent to applicants. While submissions may help limit competitor patent scope, disadvantages include retaliation or broad patents still issuing. Best practices include timely monitoring of filings and high-quality, focused prior art submissions.