Takeaways:
- Claim construction for determining whether reissue claims are improperly broadened is based on fundamental claim construction cannons and not applicant intentions.
- Patent Owners should check patented claims...more
5/29/2025
/ Appeals ,
CAFC ,
Claim Construction ,
Inventors ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Ownership ,
Patent Reissue Applications ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patent Validity ,
Patents ,
Reissue Patents
Takeaways -
- Expired patents may be eligible for reexamination.
- Owner’s options during reexamination of an expired patent are severely limited.
Similar to reexamination practice, which has long allowed reexamination...more
3/12/2025
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) ,
Claim Construction ,
Director of the USPTO ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Reexamination ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Patent Expiration ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Ownership ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Revocation ,
USPTO
Takeaways -
-Intra-patent claim inconsistencies are errors correctible via reissue.
-Subtle legal distinctions in reissue may require PTAB appeals.
Patent prosecution errors occur. One such error that occurs is...more
2/14/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Appeals ,
Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) ,
Claim Amendments ,
Claim Construction ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Prosecution ,
Patent Reissue Applications ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Reissue Patents ,
USPTO
In the mid-2000s, the U.S. Patent Office (USPTO) determined that reexaminations would be more consistent and legally correct if performed by a centralized set of experienced and specially trained Examiners. As a result, the...more
5/20/2024
/ Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) ,
Claim Construction ,
Ex Partes Reexamination ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Patent Ownership ,
Patent Reissue Applications ,
Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Prior Art ,
USPTO
Takeaways:
-A requester can have a voice in ex parte reexamination prosecution.
- Requesters should strategically structure their request documents to hedge against potential patent owner amendment and argument.
The...more
Takeaways:
-Not all patent errors are correctible via Reissue.
- Restriction practice applies to Reissue applications.
1. Non-Elected Invention Recapture: A reissue application cannot add claims directed to a...more
The Federal Circuit recently held that a Patent Owner could not use disclaimers argued in an IPR proceeding for claim construction within the same IPR proceeding.
In CUPP Computing AS v. Trend Micro Inc., Case 20-2262,...more
The PTAB Strategies and Insights newsletter provides timely updates and insights into how best to handle proceedings at the USPTO. It is designed to increase return on investment for all stakeholders looking at the entire...more
As post grant review allows for on sale bar assertions, and thus experimental use defenses, we wanted to highlight a recent case addressing these issues.
Sunoco sued Venture and U.S. Oil Co. for infringement of U.S. Patent...more
6/3/2022
/ Claim Construction ,
Clear and Convincing Evidence ,
Damages ,
Evidence ,
Experimental Use Exception ,
Inventions ,
Inventors ,
On-Sale Bar ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Section 102 ,
Vacated
The PTAB Strategies and Insights newsletter provides timely updates and insights into how best to handle proceedings at the USPTO. It is designed to increase return on investment for all stakeholders looking at the entire...more
6/1/2022
/ Appeals ,
Appointments Clause ,
Arthrex Inc v Smith & Nephew Inc ,
Claim Construction ,
Clear and Convincing Evidence ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Damages ,
Director of the USPTO ,
Evidence ,
Experimental Use Exception ,
Expert Testimony ,
Federal Vacancies Reform Act ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Inventions ,
Inventors ,
Motivation to Combine ,
Obviousness ,
On-Sale Bar ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Petition For Rehearing ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Prior Art ,
Remand ,
Section 102 ,
Separation of Powers ,
Substantial Evidence Standard ,
USPTO ,
Vacated
[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
In Seabed Geosolutions (US) Inc. v. Magseis FF LLC, the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded an inter partes review decision for the Patent Owner. The Court held that the Patent Trial and Review Board failed to perform the...more
9/3/2021
/ Claim Construction ,
Extrinsic Evidence ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Intrinsic Evidence ,
Inventions ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Prosecution History ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Remand ,
USPTO ,
Vacated ,
Written Descriptions
The PTAB Strategies and Insights newsletter provides timely updates and insights into how best to handle proceedings at the USPTO. It is designed to increase return on investment for all stakeholders looking at the entire...more
9/1/2021
/ America Invents Act ,
Claim Construction ,
Design Patent ,
Evidence ,
Extrinsic Evidence ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Intrinsic Evidence ,
Inventions ,
Nexus ,
Nonobvious ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Prosecution History ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Prior Art ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Substantial Evidence ,
USPTO ,
Utility Patents ,
Vacated ,
Written Descriptions
[co-author: Jay Bober, Summer Associate]
The PTAB Strategies and Insights newsletter provides timely updates and insights into how best to handle proceedings at the USPTO. It is designed to increase return on investment for...more
8/2/2021
/ Administrative Patent Judges ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Appointments Clause ,
Burden of Proof ,
Claim Construction ,
Denial of Institution ,
Evidence ,
Executive Branch ,
Executive Powers ,
Intel ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Oral Hearings ,
Parallel Proceedings ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patent Validity ,
Patents ,
Petition For Rehearing ,
Prejudice ,
Prior Art ,
Qualcomm ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Statutory Deadlines ,
Stipulations ,
Sua Sponte ,
United States v Arthrex Inc ,
USPTO ,
Vacated
In Olaplex, Inc. v L’Oréal USA, Inc. the Federal Circuit addressed, among other issues, PGR estoppel in subsequent district court litigation. Here, the Court addressed the timing to raise estoppel regarding written...more
6/8/2021
/ Claim Construction ,
Estoppel ,
Final Written Decisions ,
L'Oreal ,
Obviousness ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Prior Art ,
Written Descriptions
The PTAB Strategies and Insights newsletter provides timely updates and insights into how best to handle proceedings at the USPTO. It is designed to increase return on investment for all stakeholders looking at the entire...more
6/3/2021
/ Claim Construction ,
Estoppel ,
Final Written Decisions ,
Forum Selection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Inventions ,
Inventors ,
IP License ,
L'Oreal ,
Obviousness ,
Parallel Proceedings ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Philip Morris ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Prior Art ,
Remand ,
RJ Reynolds ,
Section 337 ,
USPTO ,
Vacated ,
Written Descriptions
Claim construction is the heart of validity and infringement for almost every patent proceeding. Yet, at least two recent cert petitions brought from separate cases by Intel and Akeva have argued the Federal Circuit has two...more
[co-author: Yuke Wang, Patent Agent]
The PTAB Strategies and Insights newsletter provides timely updates and insights into how best to handle proceedings at the USPTO. It is designed to increase return on investment for all...more
4/27/2021
/ Claim Construction ,
Evidence ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Obviousness ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patent Validity ,
Patents ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Prior Art ,
Reversal ,
Split of Authority
The PTAB Strategies and Insights newsletter provides timely updates and insights into how best to handle proceedings at the USPTO. It is designed to increase return on investment for all stakeholders looking at the entire...more
In IPR2019-00567 (Paper 23 at 29-30) and IPR2019-00568 (Paper 22 at 23-24), the PTAB, for potentially the first time, denied institution partially based on the Petitioner raising the same issues in its Petition that had been...more
9/5/2019
/ §314(a) ,
Claim Construction ,
Claim Preclusion ,
Estoppel ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Parallel Proceedings ,
Partial Institution ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Prior Art
Just after making the NHK and Valve Corp decisions precedential, the Board distinguished them in Amazon. While NHK and Valve Corp resulted in denial, in Amazon the Board instituted trial despite Amazon having similar issues...more
5/29/2019
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Amazon ,
Claim Construction ,
Discovery ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Parallel Proceedings ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Ownership ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Precedential Opinion ,
Prior Art
In IPR2018-00272, the Board denied a motion to terminate brought by a Patent Owner who argued that a district court’s finding of indefiniteness required termination of the PTAB proceedings for U.S. Patent. 9,393,208....more
5/28/2019
/ Claim Construction ,
Indefiniteness ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Motion to Terminate ,
Parallel Proceedings ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Ownership ,
Patent Validity ,
Patents ,
Prior Art ,
Section 102 ,
Section 103 ,
Section 112 ,
Trial Court Orders
Despite changing claim construction to district court standard, where BRI had always been premised on the patent owners ability to amend, it appears the USPTO is responding to a half-decade of negative comments from the...more
The PTAB Strategies and Insights newsletter provides timely updates and insights into how best to handle proceedings at the USPTO. It is designed to increase return on investment for all stakeholders looking at the entire...more
10/19/2018
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Procedure ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
Burden-Shifting ,
Claim Construction ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Phillips Standard ,
Right To Appeal ,
Standard of Review ,
Standing
You selected your experts – Ms. Boot (an expert for the patent owner, SneakRTech) and Dr. Slipper, PhD (an expert for the Petitioner, BadGuys) - to assist SneakRTech at the PTAB in cases involving aglet patents against...more
7/24/2018
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Claim Construction ,
Cross Examination ,
Declaration ,
Expert Witness ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Noninfringement ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Owner Preliminary Response ,
Patent Ownership ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents