After several months of consideration, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit sitting en banc in Aqua Products, Inc. v. Matal has concluded that, under the current rules, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is not justified in placing the burden of persuasion on patent owners when they seek to amend claims in inter partes review. A majority, consisting of seven of the eleven judges sitting en banc, reached the narrow consensus that the USPTO has not adopted any rule entitled to deference that adequately defines the burden with respect to patentees seeking to amend claims in inter partes review. In the absence of any rule or PTAB decision that might be entitled deference, the majority concluded that the USPTO may not place that burden on the patentee at this time. While leaving many questions unanswered, the Court unanimously rejected the USPTO’s justification that the statute places the burden on the patentee because amendments must be sought by “motion.”...