On March 26, 2025, the USPTO issued the attached memo titled “Interim Processes for PTAB Workload Management,” which significantly alters the pre-institution briefing procedure for IPRs and PGRs.
Under the Interim Process,...more
On Friday, the USPTO rescinded its June 21, 2022, memorandum entitled “Interim Procedure for Discretionary Denials in AIA Post-Grant Proceedings with Parallel District Court Litigation” (“Fintiv memo”). The USPTO notice makes...more
3/3/2025
/ America Invents Act ,
Appeals ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Parallel Proceedings ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
USPTO
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) continues to play a pivotal role in shaping the intellectual property landscape. In 2024, several developments affecting PTAB practice emerged, from new rulemaking at the USPTO to key...more
2/4/2025
/ §315(e) ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
America Invents Act ,
Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Director of the USPTO ,
Final Rules ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Obviousness ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Ownership ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Prior Art ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Section 102 ,
Statistical Analysis ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Technology ,
USPTO
The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) published a final rule on October 10, 2024, that reaffirms that only members of the patent bar may serve as lead counsel in AIA proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board...more
On April 19, 2024, the USPTO published a long-awaited Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that followed its April 2023 Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM). The proposed rules package, Patent Trial and Appeal Board...more
4/24/2024
/ Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
America Invents Act ,
Claim Construction ,
Comment Period ,
Derivation Proceeding ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Ownership ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Proposed Rules ,
USPTO
On July 24, 2023, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) promulgated a revised interim process for Director Review of Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB or Board) decisions in proceedings under the...more
2/13/2024
/ Advisory Committee ,
America Invents Act ,
Appeals ,
Director of the USPTO ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Policies and Procedures ,
PTAB Precedential Opinion Panel (POP) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
USPTO
A review of 2023 reveals it was an active and impactful year in shaping the policy and practice before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB or Board) at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In fact, all three...more
2/12/2024
/ America Invents Act ,
Director of the USPTO ,
Estoppel ,
Ex Partes Reexamination ,
Final Written Decisions ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
USPTO
The USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has increasingly used its discretionary denial authority in recent years. Although the PTAB’s discretion under 35 U.S.C. § 314(a) and Fintiv grabbed many headlines in 2021, the...more
3/11/2022
/ America Invents Act ,
Ex Partes Reexamination ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Obviousness ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Prosecution History ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Prior Art ,
Section 325(d) ,
USPTO
[co-author: Jamie Dohopolski]
Love it or hate it, ignore the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) at your peril. The introduction of the PTAB as part of the America Invents Act over ten years ago has forever changed...more
3/7/2022
/ §315(e) ,
35 U.S.C. § 285 ,
America Invents Act ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Biologics ,
Biosimilars ,
Biotechnology ,
Chemical Compounds ,
Claim Construction ,
Collateral Estoppel ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Credibility ,
Declaration ,
Depositions ,
Enhanced Damages ,
Estoppel ,
Evidence ,
Ex Partes Reexamination ,
Exceptional Case ,
Expert Testimony ,
Expert Witness ,
Final Written Decisions ,
Hatch-Waxman ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Inventors ,
Life Sciences ,
Motion to Amend ,
Obviousness ,
Orange Book ,
Parallel Proceedings ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Cancellation ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Prosecution History ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Pre-AIA Patents ,
Printed Publications ,
Prior Art ,
Section 112 ,
Section 325(d) ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
Testimony ,
USPTO ,
USPTO Pilot Program ,
Vacated ,
Written Descriptions
On August 10, 2018, the United States Patent and Trademark Office published a Federal Register notice announcing updates to the Office Patent Trial Practice Guide (TPG). The TPG was first published in August 2012 to provide...more
8/27/2018
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
America Invents Act ,
Expert Witness ,
Motion to Exclude ,
Motion To Strike ,
Oral Hearings ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Oppositions ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Rebuttal ,
Trial Practice Guidance ,
USPTO
Depositions are an important, yet sometimes overlooked, part of AIA proceedings, such as inter partes review (“IPR”) trial proceedings. It is important to understand that IPR depositions differ in significant ways – both in...more
6/18/2018
/ Administrative Procedure ,
America Invents Act ,
Declaration ,
Depositions ,
Expert Witness ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Owner Preliminary Response ,
Patents ,
Witness Preparation ,
Witness Statements ,
Witnesses