Acxiom Corp. v. Phoenix Licensing LLC (CBM2015-00068, Paper 23) presents a rare denial of a petition for covered business method review (as of June 25, 2015, CBM petitions are granted at a rate of over 70%). In denying the petition, the PTAB stressed that, to have standing, a petitioner must have been sued (or threatened with suit), or be a privy to a party that has been sued (or been threatened with suit). And “privy” in this context is synonymous with customer. In other words, suppliers have a right to step in for their customers with a CBM, but not the other way around.
Continue Reading PTAB Denies CBM Petition for Lack of Standing, Interpreting “Privies” as Customers and Not Suppliers
Who Benefits from the Federal Circuit’s SAP v. Versata Decision?
The Federal Circuit recently issued its opinion deciding SAP v. Versata, an appeal of the first PTAB final written decision in a post grant AIA trial. The court’s opinion (split on one issue) is significant because it decides a number of issues that will guide pending and future AIA trials, especially CBM proceedings. Below is a short summary of who—patent owners or petitioners—can claim victory in the court’s five major conclusions.
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PTAB Clarifies Meaning of Prior Art “Of Record” and “Known” In Context of a Motion to Amend – What Now?
In MasterImage 3D, Inc. v. RealD Inc., the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) reaffirmed that the patent owner bears the burden of establishing the patentability of any amended claims proposed in an AIA trial over two categories of prior art: (a) the “prior art of record” and (b) “prior art known to the patent owner.” IPR2015-00040, Paper 42 (PTAB July 15, 2015). Nothing new there. What is new is the PTAB’s “clarification” of what constitutes such prior art:
Continue Reading PTAB Clarifies Meaning of Prior Art “Of Record” and “Known” In Context of a Motion to Amend – What Now?
Patent Dispute Reform Legislation Is Now Pending in Both Houses of Congress
The House of Representative’s Innovation Act, H.R. 9, was voted to the House floor for further consideration on June 11, by a 24-8 vote of its Judiciary Committee, after the Senate’s PATENT Act, S. 1137, was voted to the Senate floor on June 4 by a 16-4 vote of its Judiciary Committee. See prior entry, “PTAB Review Reform in Bill Approved by Senate Committee.” Both bills target abusive litigation tactics and post-grant proceedings, IPRs and PGRs.
Notably, amendments were introduced to H.R. 9 to prevent the types of IPRs filed by Kyle Bass-type hedge funds for monetary gain, and to permit the patent owner to support its preliminary response with new declaration evidence.
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Federal Circuit Upholds PTAB’s Application of its Rules to Decide Motions to Amend
Update: Overruled in part byAqua Products, Inc. v. Matal.
Earlier this week, we wrote about the post-hearing briefing the Federal Circuit invited in Microsoft Corp. v. Proxyconn, Inc., Case Nos. 2014-1542, -1543, Dkt. 49 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 13, 2015), and the questions it posed regarding the PTAB’s administration of inter partes review. The court issued its decision in that case yesterday, answering some of the questions it posed and, for the first time, reversed a PTAB claim construction, vacated the PTAB’s decision of unpatentability, and remanded the IPR for further proceedings.
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Is the Coalition for Affordable Drugs Abusing the IPR Process?
The PTAB granted leave on June 9 for the patent owner, Celgene Corporation, to file a motion for sanctions seeking dismissal in several IPRs¹ filed by the Coalition for Affordable Drugs. The Coalition for Affordable Drugs, an organization created by the hedge fund Hayman Credes Master Fund L.P., has filed multiple IPRs against pharmaceutical companies with the publicly announced intention to lower drug prices for everyone by invalidating patent protections that it contends have little value.
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PTAB Review Reform in Bill Approved by Senate Committee
Late June 2, the Senate Judiciary Committee released a new version of its Protecting American Talent and Entrepreneurship (PATENT) Act, S. 1137. In response to prodding by industry groups, the bill now includes reforms directed at preventing abuse of the Patent Office’s post-grant proceedings, IPRs and PGRs, against patent owners The bill is here.
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PTAB Cancels Metasearch Patents Under Section 101, Rejecting Arguments
On May 22, 2015, the PTAB issued its final written decision in American Express Co. v. Lunenfeld, CBM2014-00050 (Paper 51), canceling six claims of U.S. Patent No. 8,239,451 directed to online metasearching. The PTAB decided that all six claims are unpatentable under 35 USC § 101, and obvious under 35 USC § 103. The PTAB characterized the ‘452 Patent as directed to the abstract idea of searching for travel information from multiple sources and ordering travel items from the combined search results.
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