On June 21, 2021, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Arthex stating: Today, we reaffirm and apply the rule from Edmond that the exercise of executive power by inferior officers must at some level be subject to the...more
Petitioner (Apple, Inc.) filed a petition to institute inter partes on a patent owned by Koss Corporation (Patent Owner). The PTAB considered six factors from Fintiv to assess whether to exercise authority to deny...more
In Fantasia Trading LLC v. Cognipower LLC, IPR2021-00070, Paper 21 (May 20, 2021), the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) declined to institute inter partes review (IPR) where Petitioner Fantasia Trading LLC failed to...more
An inter partes review (IPR) before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) is a proceeding of the petitioner versus the patent owner. In a situation where the petitioner or the patent owner consists of multiple entities,...more
On April 30, 2021, the PTAB instituted IPR trials based on petitions by Facebook, Inc. (“Petitioner”) challenging certain claims of U.S. Patent No. 8,645,300 (“300 Patent”), owned by USC IP Partnership, L.P. (“Patent Owner”)...more
Although the Federal Circuit had previously held that the PTAB may enter adverse judgment when a patent owner disclaims all claims challenged in an inter partes review (“IPR”) petition before an institution decision, in...more
An April 13, 2021 decision by the Federal Circuit denied a motion to vacate and remand PTAB decisions based on the Federal Circuit’s October 2019 decision in Arthrex v. Smith & Newman, Inc., et al., 941 F.3d 1320 (Fed. Cir....more
The institution rate for post-grant challenges in current FY 2021 (Oct. 1, 2020 through Feb. 28, 2021) stands at 61% (305 instituted, 198 denied) compared to 56% in the previous fiscal year. This rate is more consistent...more
This blog has previously discussed the effect of several different types of estoppel. See, e.g., Estoppel Estopped for Remanded Claims, Reminder: Estoppel May Not Preclude Prior-Art Systems, and PGR Estoppel Applies to...more
A PTAB panel found FedEx sufficiently akin to Priority Mail Express to meet the petition service rule, and to the extent necessary further waived the regulatory requirements related to the timing of Petitioner’s (TIZ Inc....more
The precedential ruling in Hunting Titan, Inc. v. DynaEnergetics Europe GmbH, IPR2018-00600, Paper 67 (PTAB July 6, 2020) allows the Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB) to raise an issue regarding substitute claims that was...more
The PTAB exercised its discretion in Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., v. Acorn Semi, LLC, IPR2020-01182, Paper 17 (Feb. 10, 2021) to deny inter partes review based on a district court finding the challenged claims indefinite....more
On February 26, 2021, the PTAB found in favor of Fox Factory, Inc. (“Fox”) on remand and cancelled the challenged claims of SRAM LLC’s (“SRAM”) U.S. Patent No. 9,182,027 (the ’027 Patent), directed towards anchoring a...more
Partners Matt Johnson and Sarah Geers talk about former USPTO Director Andrei Iancu's impact on the PTAB, and what we might expect from a new director under the Biden Administration. They also comment on why patent litigation...more
The USPTO designated Snap, Inc. v. SRK Tech. LLC, IPR2020-00820 (PTAB October 21, 2020) (Paper 15) (“Snap”) as precedential as to § II.A regarding its discretion under 35 U.S.C. § 314(a) to deny institution of inter partes...more
In Sand Revolution II, LLC v. Continental Intermodal Group-Trucking LLC, IPR2019-1393, Paper 19, (PTAB April, 7 2020), the Board denied briefing based on a lack of jurisdiction while the Precedential Opinion Panel request was...more
On January 28, 2021, the PTAB held a Boardside Chat webinar at which three PTAB judges discussed four recent developments related to America Invents Act (“AIA”) trials....more
The PTAB recently held that the General Plastic factors weighed in favor of denying a follow-on IPR petition filed after the Patent Owner filed a preliminary response to an earlier petition challenging the same patent (U.S....more
On January 19, 2021, Petitioner, 10X Genomics, requested via email authorization to file 1) a five page brief addressing the Board’s institution decision in Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. v. Acorn Semi, LLC, IPR2020-01204,...more
Although the PTAB had previously stated that it would “rarely” be appropriate for a petitioner to file multiple petitions against the same patent, in Dolby Laboratories, Inc. v. Intertrust Technologies Corp., IPR 2020-01104;...more
On January 19th, the PTO published an Executive Summary encapsulating stakeholder feedback received from the October 20, 2020 Request for Comments on institution of America Invents Act (AIA) proceedings. The USPTO received...more
Although first briefly mentioned as a possibility in the August 2018 Trial Practice Guide Update (page 10), outside of one instance (Bio-Rad Labs. v. 10X Genomics, IPR2019-00567; -00568, August 8, 2019), PTAB discretionary...more
In General Access Sols., Ltd. v. Sprint Spectrum, et al., No. 2:20-cv-00007-RWS, ECF No. 128 (E.D. Tex. Dec. 1, 2020), the Eastern District of Texas denied a motion to strike invalidity defenses as barred by IPR estoppel for...more
District courts commonly stay patent litigation cases pending inter parties review (IPR) that assesses the validity of the patents-in-suit before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Such stay may be lifted or extended...more
The results of a recent update to the PTAB Multiple Petition Study show Petitioners face an uphill battle when attempting to utilize a multiple petition strategy. These results, discussed during the December 10, 2020...more