On March 23, 2020, a fractured Federal Circuit issued a precedential order denying rehearing en banc in Arthrex, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew, Inc., No. 2018-2140. On October 31, 2019, a three-judge Federal Circuit panel before...more
The Federal Circuit, in Illumina, Inc., v. Ariosia, reversed the summary judgment decision of a lower trial court and upheld—as patent subject matter eligible—claims in two patents (U.S. 9,580,751; U.S. 9,738,931). The...more
On October 31, 2019, a Federal Circuit panel issued Arthrex, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew, Inc., holding that administrative patent judges (APJs) of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) were unconstitutionally-appointed...more
Recently, the U.S Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a split panel decision in Athena.Athena, which examined the patent subject matter eligibility of four claims in one issued patent, upheld a district court's...more
AIA Institution Rates Following Supreme Court’s
SAS Decision -
On April 24, 2018, the Supreme Court issued its decision in SAS Institute v. Iancu, holding that when the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) institutes an...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has decided whether tribal sovereign immunity required termination of inter partes review (IPR) proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). At the PTAB, Mylan...more
7/25/2018
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Allergan Inc ,
Appeals ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
IP Assignment Agreements ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Sovereign Immunity ,
Tribal Governments
Orange Book-Listed Patents Prove to Be Popular Targets for AIA Challenges -
On March 13, 2018, Chief Administrative Patent Judge Ruschke of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) released findings of the Patent Office’s...more
Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard argument in University of California v. Broad Institute on whether the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) correctly held that both the University of California...more
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two decisions that will keep the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) busier than ever. In Oil States Energy Services, LLC v. Greene's Energy Group, LLC,1 the Court affirmed that inter...more
4/25/2018
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
America Invents Act ,
Article III ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Oil States Energy Services v Greene's Energy Group ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
SAS Institute Inc. v Iancu ,
SCOTUS ,
Seventh Amendment ,
USPTO
Challenges to Immunology Patents Lead Increase in Biotechnology Cases at the PTAB in 2017 -
Throughout the history of inter partes review (IPR) proceedings, petitions have been dominated by challenges to patents directed...more
Judicial review of post-grant patent proceedings at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) is limited, but a federal court of appeals has somewhat loosened the restriction. On January 8, 2018, in Wi-Fi One, LLC v. Broadcom...more
1/11/2018
/ § 315(b) ,
America Invents Act ,
Appeals ,
Broadcom ,
Cuozzo Speed Technologies v Lee ,
En Banc Review ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Judicial Review ,
Non-Appealable Decisions ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Time-Barred Claims ,
USPTO
On October 4, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued an en banc decision in Aqua Products, Inc., v. Matal, finding that the petitioner has the burden of proving the unpatentability of claims—even...more
On May 30, 2017, in Impression Products, Inc. v. Lexmark International, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court held that a domestic or foreign sale of a patented product exhausts all U.S. patent rights in that product. The case was...more
Escaping PTAB Review Through Strategic Disclaimer in CBM Proceedings -
A patent is only eligible for covered business method (CBM) review if it: (1) claims a method or apparatus for performing data processing or other...more
On January 9, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a decision in Phigenix, Inc. v. Immunogen, Inc. dismissing an appeal by a petitioner from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) for lack of...more
New Testimonial Evidence with Preliminary Responses: Panacea or Placebo?
Just over three years ago, during a keynote speech at the AIPLA annual meeting, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) was criticized as a...more
Covered Business Method Patent Review: What Constitutes a Financial Product or Service?
Along with inter partes review (IPR) and post-grant review (PGR), the America Invents Act (AIA) created a transitional program for...more
On June 20, 2016, the United States Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Cuozzo Speed Technologies v. Lee. The Supreme Court granted certiorari to consider two questions....more
Post-Grant Review Proceeding Filings Ramp Up In addition to inter partes review (IPR) and covered business method (CBM) review proceedings, the America Invents Act (AIA) provides for post-grant review (PGR) proceedings. PGR...more
6/10/2016
/ America Invents Act ,
Discovery ,
Estoppel ,
First-to-File ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Motion to Amend ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Precedential Opinion ,
Real Party in Interest ,
Rules of Practice ,
USPTO
On April 1, 2016, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued another round of amendments to the rules governing Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) trial proceedings under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA)....more
On March 15, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) places constraints on when petitioners may present evidence and arguments against the patentability of...more
On December 2, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued an order denying a petition for rehearing en banc in the closely watched Sequenom case. Earlier this year, on appeal from the U.S. District Court...more
On August 19, 2015, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced another set of proposed changes to the rules governing Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) trial proceedings under the America Invents Act (AIA)....more
8/26/2015
/ Amended Complaints ,
America Invents Act ,
Claim Construction ,
Covered Business Method Proceedings ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Rule 11 ,
USPTO
On July 21, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its holding in Amgen Inc. v. Sandoz Inc., 2015-1499 (Fed. Cir. 2015). The Federal Circuit's decision is the latest development in the long-running...more
7/24/2015
/ Appeals ,
Biosimilars ,
BPCIA ,
Commercial Marketing ,
Counterclaims ,
Disclosure ,
First Impression ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Notice Provisions ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Sandoz v Amgen ,
Unfair Competition
On July 9, 2015, a divided Federal Circuit held in Versata Development Group, Inc. v. SAP America, Inc., No. 14-1194, that it can review Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) determinations that a patent is a "covered business...more