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Last fall, the Federal Circuit reversed a PTAB decision that affirmed an Examiner’s rejection of various claims in an ex parte reexamination because the Examiner’s interpretation of the claims, which the PTAB upheld, was unreasonably broad. In re Smith International, Inc., Appeal No. 2016-2303 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 26, 2017). The court’s decision is noteworthy because it reinforces the bounds of the broadest reasonable interpretation claim construction standard the Patent Office must apply when assessing patentability, bounds that do not encompass the broadest possible interpretation.
Continue Reading Federal Circuit Again Reminds PTAB that BRI Must Be Reasonable

In CRFD Research Ltd. v. Matal, No. 2016-2198 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 5, 2017), the Federal Circuit determined that the PTAB erred in its obviousness analysis, in part by failing to consider an argument the IPR petitioner made in a ground that the PTAB determined was “redundant” to the instituted grounds.

Petitioner Hulu, LLC, challenged claims of CRFD Research Ltd.’s patent directed to methods of transferring an ongoing software-based session from one device to another, allowing the user to begin a session on one device, such as a cell phone, and then transferring the session to another device, such as a laptop computer.
Continue Reading PTAB Should Have Considered Argument Raised in “Redundant,” Non-instituted Ground

In Ultratec, Inc. v. CaptionCall, LLC, No. 2016-1706 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 28, 2017), the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded multiple IPR decisions where the PTAB failed to consider material evidence and failed to explain its decisions to exclude the evidence.

Ultratec and CaptionCall are currently litigating in both district court and before the PTAB.  Ultratec sued CaptionCall for infringement in the Western District of Wisconsin where a jury found the patents infringed and not invalid. 
Continue Reading CAFC: PTAB Abused Its Discretion When It Refused to Admit Expert’s Trial Testimony

The PTAB’s Chief Administrative Patent Judge issued a memorandum on November 21, 2017, providing guidance on motions to amend in view of the en banc decision of the Federal Circuit in Aqua Products, Inc. v. Matal, 872 F.3d 1290 (Fed. Cir. 2017) (discussed here and here).  The court in Aqua Products determined that the Board could not the place burden of persuasion with respect to the patentability of substitute claims on the patent owner.  The memorandum stated that the Board will determine whether substitute claims submitted in a motion to amend compliant with 35 U.S.C. § 316(d) are unpatentable by a preponderance of the evidence based on the entirety of the record, including any opposition made by the petitioner. 
Continue Reading Board Issues Guidance on Motions to Amend in View of Aqua Products

The Federal Circuit’s decision in Eli Lilly & Co. v. Teva Parenteral Medicines, Inc., 845 F.3d 1357 (Fed. Cir. 2017) attracted much attention for applying the theory of divided infringement in the context of pharmaceutical therapeutic regimen claims.  Before the Federal Circuit decision, a scrum of petitioners successfully petitioned for IPR of the Lilly patent, alleging that the claims were obvious in view of a combination of references that included prior art considered by the court in the litigation. Our previous post highlighted the potential for inconsistent results that AIA trials may present relative to district court actions concerning the same patent. 
Continue Reading Eli Lilly’s Pemetrexed Therapy Claims Survive Challenge At PTAB

Two recent Federal Circuit decisions illustrate how an error in construing claims may lead the court to reverse a PTAB final written decision. In Organik Kimya AS v. Rohm & Haas Co., the Federal Circuit determined that the PTAB correctly construed the disputed claim term, “swelling agent,” and therefore affirmed the PTAB’s decisions upholding the patentability of challenged claims directed to processes for preparing emulsion polymers. In contrast, in Owens Corning v. Fast Felt Corp., decided on the same day, the court determined that the PTAB erred in construing the term “roofing or building cover material” too narrowly, and thus reversed the PTAB’s decision canceling claims directed to methods of applying polymer “nail tabs” on roofing and building cover material.  
Continue Reading Error in Claim Construction Leads to Reversal of IPR Decision and Cancelation of Claims

In the November 14, 2017, Federal Register, the Patent Office issued its final rule setting and adjusting the fees the Office charges for its products and services, including relatively substantial increases for standard AIA trial fees (as shown below). As a simple example, a petitioner challenging all claims of a patent containing 30 claims will pay 37% more in fees for inter partes review ($42,500 v. $31,000), and 33% more in fees for post grant or covered business method review ($54,125 v. $40,750). These AIA trial fees become effective on January 16, 2018.
Continue Reading Petitioners Will Pay More for Immensely Popular AIA Trials

On November 7, 2017, the USPTO issued a Final Rule recognizing that communications between U.S. and foreign patent practitioners and their clients that are reasonably necessary and incident to the scope of the patent practitioners’ authority shall receive the same protections of privilege under Federal Law as if the communication were between a client and a U.S. attorney.  82 Fed. Reg. 51570-75 (Nov. 7, 2017).  The privilege extends to communications during all aspects of USPTO practice, including traditional prosecution as well as PTAB proceedings. See 82 Fed. Reg. at 51571 (“the purpose of the rule is to protect any communication with authorized counsel from discovery in PTAB, not just communication about the instant proceedings”). The final rule is effective December 7, 2017.
Continue Reading Patent Agent Privilege Recognized in Final Rulemaking Issued by USPTO

The Board’s recent decision in Veeam Software Corp. v. Veritas Technologies, LLC, Case No. IPR2014-00090 (PTAB July 17, 2017), provides patent practitioners with a framework for analyzing proposed substitute claims.  The Board’s decision, granting patent owner’s motion to amend in part, should be considered in conjunction with the Federal Circuit’s decision in Veritas Technologies LLC v. Veeam Software Corp., 835 F.3d 1406 (Fed. Cir. 2016), which vacated the Board’s earlier disposition of the IPR and remanded the case to the Board to reconsider the substitute claims it previously denied.  These decisions offer at least a partial framework by which the PTAB may assess motions to amend during inter partes reviews.
Continue Reading Board Decision Grants Motion to Amend With Respect to One Substitute

Resources & Info

Arthrex and the Supreme Court Resource Center

In United States v. Arthrex, Inc., the Supreme Court has heard whether 125+ PTAB decisions rendered through October 2019 must be remanded for new decisions. Read about how that issue developed through our post.

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Our Team

PTABWatch, provided by Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP, analyzes and reports recent developments concerning Post-Grant Proceedings at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), including Inter Partes Review (IPR), Post Grant Review (PGR), and Covered Business Method (CBM) proceedings.