It Only Took 13 Years: The Federal Circuit's First Derivation Proceeding Decision — Patents: Post-Grant Podcast
Understanding the Impact of IPR Estoppel and PTAB Discretionary Denials — Patents: Post-Grant Podcast
Podcast: IP(DC): Inside Patent Reform Efforts, Anticipated Federal Circuit Appeals, and Patent Cases of the Upcoming Supreme Court Term
Is the Patent Litigation Boom Coming to an End?
Broadest Reasonable Interpretation (BRI), as applied during USPTO examination, is often described as a “broad” claim construction standard. That description is accurate as far as it goes, but it is incomplete in a way that...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit concluded that the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) framework for discretionary denials of inter partes review (IPR) is a general statement of policy, not a...more
Sterne Kessler’s IP Year in Review Reports provide a comprehensive analysis of key developments, trends, and cases that shaped the intellectual property landscape over the past year....more
Top Glory Trading Group Inc. and DP Dream Pairs Inc. v. Cole Haan LLC, IPR2025-01395 (P.T.A.B January 12, 2026) - A recent decision by United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) Director Squires may signal renewed...more
This issue of The PTAB Review begins with a review of notable developments at the PTAB, including changes to institution procedures, and precedential and informative decisions. Next, the authors explore several appellate...more
Patent eligibility decisions are not new. Courts have grappled with what can and cannot be patented for years, especially in the technology and software spaces. A recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal...more
In Ex parte Baurin (Appeal 2024‑002920), the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) denied the examiner’s request for rehearing and reaffirmed its prior reversal of six nonstatutory obviousness‑type double patenting (ODP)...more
Our Patent Case Summaries provide a weekly summary of the precedential patent-related opinions issued by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the opinions designated precedential or informative by the Patent Trial...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed three Patent Trial & Appeal Board final written decisions finding claims of three related patents unpatentable as obvious and reiterated that challenges to the Board’s...more
As discussed in our previous article, Comcast sought mandamus relief after Judge Gilstrap of the Eastern District of Texas denied the company’s motion to dismiss or transfer for improper venue....more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied mandamus relief to three petitioners after the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) denied inter partes review (IPR) institution....more
On November 6, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”) issued a decision denying a petition for writ of mandamus relief from the discretionary deinstitution of inter partes reviews (“IPRs”). In re...more
In re Gesture, Case No. 25-1075 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 1, 2025) - Ex parte reexaminations and inter partes review (“IPR”) are two different procedures available at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) to...more
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (“PTAB’s”) authority to exercise discretion over whether to institute Inter Partes Review (“IPR”) proceedings has become one of the most consequential features of post-grant practice before...more
Top off the eggnog, straighten the twinkle lights and clear a space between the nutcrackers and the model train set for a fresh stack of Top Section 101 Stories of the Year. It's our annual sleigh ride through Section 101....more
USPTO Director Squires recently published an open letter announcing that he was “Bringing the USPTO Back to the Future” by assuming responsibility for all IPR and PGR institution decisions. Why the reference to the 1980s...more
On February 13, 2024, then-USPTO Director Vidal issued inventorship guidance for AI-assisted inventions; on November 28, 2025, new USPTO Director Squires revoked and replaced it. But both the earlier guidance and current...more
This Federal Circuit opinion analyzes the “very demanding standard” of judicial correction of erroneous wording of a patent claim. Background - Canatex Completion Solutions owns U.S. Patent No. 10,794,122. This patent...more
In re Motorola Solutions, Inc., No. 25-134, 2025 WL 3096514 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 6, 2025) - If you were hoping a Sotera stipulation would bulletproof your Inter Partes Review (“IPR”) petiton from a discretionary denial, the...more
A U.S. design patent protects how something looks, as opposed to how it works. An applicant conveys that look primarily using drawings. Typically they use line drawings, so that the scope of protection is focused on the shape...more
The Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Canatex Completion Solutions, Inc. v. Wellmatics, LLC is a good example of the courts’ ability to correct obvious errors in patent claims through claim construction....more
PT Medisafe Technologies (“Medisafe”) has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Federal Circuit decision upholding the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (“TTAB”) refusal to register Medisafe’s dark green color mark...more
Centripetal Networks, LLC, v. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. - Before Moore, Hughes, and Cunningham. Appeal from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Despite affirming the denial of Centripetal’s recusal motion as untimely and...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Patent Trial & Appeal Board’s decision finding claims directed to cladribine regimens for treating multiple sclerosis unpatentable as obvious....more
The Federal Circuit’s latest ruling in In re Motorola Solutions, Inc. solidifies the discretionary authority of the USPTO director over inter partes review institution decisions, underscores the limited scope of judicial...more