The USPTO has issued interim procedures curbing the PTAB’s discretionary denials over post-grant proceedings associated with parallel ITC proceedings or district court litigation. ...more
As part of our Spotlight series, Dion Bregman (who wears many hats at Morgan Lewis, such as deputy leader of the firm’s intellectual property practice, leader of the firm’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) team, managing...more
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board found in a recent inter partes review—DraftKings Inc. v. Interactive Games LLC—that DraftKings’ proposed combination of prior art would have been obvious when Interactive Games’ mobile...more
In Alarm.com Inc. v. Hirshfeld, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that decisions by the US Patent and Trademark Office Director vacating ex parte reexamination based on estoppel may be subject to judicial...more
The US Patent and Trademark Office is implementing a pilot program to allow participating applicants to defer responding to subject matter eligibility rejections until the earlier of a final disposition of the application, or...more
The US Patent Trial and Appeal Board on December 23, 2021, instituted an inter partes review even though an unrelated party had already unsuccessfully challenged the validity of the patent in district court. In the decision...more
The US Supreme Court issued its highly anticipated decision on June 21 in United States v. Arthrex, Inc., addressing whether the authority of administrative patent judges (APJs) of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) to...more
6/24/2021
/ Administrative Patent Judges ,
Appointments Clause ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Director of the USPTO ,
Inferior Officers ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Principle Officers ,
PTAB Precedential Opinion Panel (POP) ,
SCOTUS ,
United States v Arthrex Inc
In response to arguments made by the US government in an appeal pending before the US Supreme Court, members of Congress requested an investigation into the adequacy of due process afforded to Patent Trial and Appeal Board...more
6/9/2021
/ Administrative Patent Judges ,
Appointments Clause ,
Arthrex Inc v Smith & Nephew Inc ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Director of the USPTO ,
Due Process ,
Inferior Officers ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Principle Officers ,
SCOTUS
The Biden-Harris administration announced on May 5 its intent to support a waiver on intellectual property protections on COVID-19 vaccines. The scope of any potential waiver is subject to further negotiation at the World...more
As of 2020, post grant proceedings have been in use for eight years. Designed as an alternative to district court litigation post grant proceedings have offered litigants a faster and more cost effective forum for resolving...more
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced on December 4 a rule change to clarify and expand exceptions to small entity status, which primarily affects the fees that the USPTO charges patent applicants. ...more
It has been argued that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB or Board) cannot engage in rulemaking through decisions made by its administrative patent judges (APJs), even if those decisions are made precedential, as APJs...more
12/28/2020
/ Administrative Patent Judges ,
America Invents Act ,
Article III ,
Burden of Persuasion ,
Burden of Proof ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Motion to Amend ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Standing ,
Substitute Claims ,
USPTO
The US Supreme Court has granted certiorari in three cases relating to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s controversial October 2019 decision in Arthrex, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew, Inc. In Arthrex, the Federal...more
10/19/2020
/ 5 U.S.C. § 7513(a) ,
Administrative Patent Judges ,
Appointments Clause ,
Arthrex Inc v Smith & Nephew Inc ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Director of the USPTO ,
Inferior Officers ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Polaris Innovations Ltd v Kingston Technology Co ,
Principle Officers ,
SCOTUS ,
Severability Doctrine ,
Tenure ,
United States v Arthrex Inc
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently ruled that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board correctly refused to substitute proposed amended claims for being directed to ineligible subject matter under 35 USC § 101....more
In B/E Aerospace, Inc. v. C&D Zodiac, Inc., published June 26, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a final written decision of the US Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board...more
In a recent opinion in ESIP Series 2, LLC v. Puzhen Life USA, LLC, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit determined that 35 USC 314(d), which bars appellate review of US Patent and Trademark Office decisions to...more
The decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board illustrates the dangers in waiting until the last day of the one-year statutory bar to file a petition, and the importance of double checking the filed documents on the PTAB’s...more
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board recently provided further guidance on what is needed to establish that a nonpatent reference is a prior art printed publication. ...more
President Donald Trump signed the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act or the Act) into law on March 27. The CARES Act aims to offer economic relief to companies and their employees due...more
4/8/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Federal Loans ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Relief Measures ,
SBA ,
SBA Lending Programs ,
Small Business ,
Startups ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
USPTO
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board recently designated two decisions as precedential and a third as informative in cases where the PTAB considered whether to exercise 35 USC § 325(d) discretion to deny petitions where the same...more
In a welcome ruling for internet companies undergoing patent infringement suits, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit weighed in regarding what it means to have a “regular and established place of business” under...more
A recent decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit suggests that petitioners who unsuccessfully challenge patents in an inter partes review (IPR) at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) cannot rely on...more
As of 2019, post-grant proceedings have been in use for seven years. Designed as an alternative to district court litigation, post-grant proceedings have offered litigants a faster and more cost-effective forum for resolving...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently held that the statutory scheme governing the administrative patent judges of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board is in violation of the Appointments Clause of the US...more
New and developing efforts by Congress may change the way patent subject matter eligibility is determined for years to come, changing the landscape for medical diagnostic methods. This congressional action comes following...more