On April 30, 2021, the PTAB instituted IPR trials based on petitions by Facebook, Inc. (“Petitioner”) challenging certain claims of U.S. Patent No. 8,645,300 (“300 Patent”), owned by USC IP Partnership, L.P. (“Patent Owner”)...more
In the wake of its May 13, 2020, precedential decision in Apple v. Fintiv, Inc., the Patent Trial and Appeal Board designated as precedential two additional decisions that weigh the Fintiv factors. In Fintiv, the Board...more
On December 17, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) designated as precedential two decisions concerning the PTAB’s discretion under 35 U.S.C. § 314(a) to deny institution of an inter partes review (IPR) when there is a...more
In the last two years, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board has issued two precedential decisions (in NHK and Fintiv) that set forth the board’s test for determining whether to deny an inter partes review (IPR) petition based on...more
The Supreme Court has held the PTAB’s “decision to deny a petition is a matter committed to the Patent Office’s discretion,” and that there is “no mandate to institute review.” Cuozzo Speed Techs., LLC v. Lee, 136 S. Ct....more
The PTAB has recently garnered significant attention for denying a spate of IPR petitions in which the challenged patent is also subject to parallel district court litigation. In these cases, the PTAB has invoked the...more
The PTAB has been grappling with how to manage IPR petitions for patents that are also being challenged in federal district court, particularly when the district court is set to determine the patent validity prior to the...more
In its precedential decision in Apple Inc. v. Fintiv, Inc., IPR 2020-00019, paper 11 (PTAB Mar. 20, 2020), the PTAB set forth a six factor “holistic” test for balancing considerations of system efficiency, fairness, and...more
On July 13, the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB or Board) designated two decisions informative that apply the NHK factors for determining whether the PTAB will exercise its discretion to deny inter partes review...more
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) has designated two key institution decisions as “Informative.” With these informative decisions, the PTAB has provided guidance on how the PTAB will apply efficiency and fairness...more
By creating the new precedential Fintiv factors, the PTAB provides guidance on what it will consider when deciding whether to deny institution of an IPR petition challenging patent claims that are also being litigated in a...more
In a rare reversal, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) reassessed the Fintiv factors in a decision on a petition for rehearing of a previous decision denying institution of an inter partes review (“IPR”). The PTAB had...more
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) recently designated an order, Apple Inc. v. Fintiv, Inc., IPR 2020-00019, Paper 11 (Mar. 20, 2020), as precedential. The order outlines six non-dispositive factors the PTAB will...more
On May 5, 2020, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) designated one decision as precedential and removed the precedential designation on another. The newly-designated precedential opinion lays out factors that the PTAB...more
On September 12, 2018, the PTAB in NHK Spring Co. v. Intri-Plex Techs., Inc. exercised its discretion under 35 U.S.C. § 314(a) to deny institution of an IPR, despite the petition’s timely filing, due to a parallel district...more
Since their inception as part of the AIA, inter partes reviews (IPRs) have been a favorite tool in the arsenal of patent challengers. Their statutorily mandated 18-month schedule oftentimes allows the PTAB to resolve a...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