Photo of Thomas I. Ross

Thomas I. Ross has litigated successfully in district courts throughout the United States and in the International Trade Commission (ITC) on matters involving patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. He has first-chaired numerous trials, both bench and jury, and has been the lead attorney on a number of appeals before the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals and other Circuit Courts. His skills derive from his experience, as well as his training in mechanical engineering and work as an examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Read full bio here.

The AIA provides for the post-grant review of “covered business method patents,” which are defined as:

a patent that claims a method or corresponding apparatus for performing data processing or other operations used in the practice, administration, or management of a financial product or service.

AIA §18(d)(1). The PTAB was left to its own devices in the absence of meaningful legislative history to address how broadly this language should be read.
Continue Reading PTAB Standard for Qualifying CBM Patent Reviews is Now Set

Federal district courts are inclined to stay patent litigations when requested by patent challengers on the basis that the patent-in-suit is undergoing an AIA review proceeding at the USPTO; and those not so inclined, specifically in the Eastern District of Texas, have been corrected by the Federal Circuit. But this favorable disposition toward stays occurs only up to a point. That point appears to be when the trial verdict has been rendered – even if that verdict is contrary to the PTAB’s determination.
Continue Reading Trial Verdict Means Time Has Run Out to Get a Stay