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
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
Ex parte reexaminations have re-emerged as an increasingly important component of patent litigation and licensing negotiations. With the passage of the America Invents Act (“AIA”) and the advent of inter partes reviews...more
3/23/2022
/ America Invents Act ,
Estoppel ,
Ex Partes Reexamination ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Litigation ,
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
[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
[co-authors: Patrick Murray, Risa Rahman, and Jae Bandeh]
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...more
7/6/2021
/ Assignor Estoppel ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Estoppel ,
Final Written Decisions ,
First Amendment ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Mahanoy Area School District v B.L. ,
Medical Devices ,
Minerva Surgical Inc. v Hologic Inc. ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Public Schools ,
SCOTUS ,
Snapchat ,
Student Speech ,
Students ,
Tinker v Des Moines Independent Community School Dist. ,
USPTO
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
In John Bean, the patent owner’s only competitor, Morris & Associates, responded to a demand letter with evidence of invalidity. John Bean Technologies Corporation v. Morris & Assocs. Inc., Cases 2020-1090, 2020-1148, Slip...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
3/31/2021
/ § 315(b) ,
America Invents Act ,
Claims Limitations Period ,
Demand Letter ,
Denial of Institution ,
Due Process ,
Evidence ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Mandamus Petitions ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Prior Art ,
USPTO ,
Willful Infringement
In December 2020, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (“PTAB” or “Board”) designated an opinion as precedential (Sotera Wireless, Inc. v. Masimo Corporation), where the Board instituted trial, i.e., did not exercise its...more
1/27/2021
/ Denial of Institution ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Judicial Discretion ,
Parallel Proceedings ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Precedential Opinion ,
USPTO
In ABS Global, Inc. v Cytonome/ST, LLC, the Federal Circuit dismissed a Petitioner’s appeal from a U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) final written decision when it determined that a Patent Owner’s voluntary...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
1/25/2021
/ Appeals ,
Denial of Institution ,
Dismissals ,
Final Written Decisions ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Mootness ,
Parallel Proceedings ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Precedential Opinion ,
USPTO
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board has elevated three panel decisions to precedential this month.
RPX Corp. v. Applications in Internet Time, LLC, IPR2015-01750, Paper 128 (Oct. 2, 2020)...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
12/18/2020
/ Final Rules ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Joinder ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Prior Art ,
RPI ,
SAS Institute Inc. v Iancu ,
USPTO
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 Regents of the Univ. of Minn. v. LSI Corporation, Fed. Cir., No. 18-01559, the Federal Circuit extended the inability to stand behind 11th Amendment Sovereign Immunity to patents owned by individual states, such that they...more
6/25/2019
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Appeals ,
Eleventh Amendment ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
IP Assignment Agreements ,
IP License ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Sovereign Immunity ,
State Universities ,
Tribal Governments
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
When faced with allegations of patent infringement at the International Trade Commission (ITC), a respondent must quickly evaluate whether or not to request an AIA review (hereinafter, inter partes review for convenience) at...more
9/26/2018
/ § 315(b) ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
America Invents Act ,
Clear and Convincing Evidence ,
Collateral Estoppel ,
Exclusion Orders ,
Imports ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Issue Preclusion ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Motion To Stay ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Preponderance of the Evidence ,
Prior Art ,
Section 101 ,
Section 112 ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Time-Barred Claims ,
Written Descriptions
Measure twice cut once – the same can be said of the Petition in American Invents Act (“AIA”) proceedings. Time and again the Board and Federal Circuit[i] have used the Administrative Procedure Act[ii] (“APA”) – guaranteeing...more
8/24/2018
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
America Invents Act ,
Appeals ,
Evidence ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Owner Preliminary Response ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Pleadings ,
Rebuttal ,
Trial Practice Guidance
In a 56 page decision, including a concurrence, the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded based on finding that the Board failed to apply the law correctly by failing to properly consider evidence alleged to show that an RPX...more