Tag Archives: Appeal

Assertion of “Routine Optimization” Without Additional Reasoning Insufficient to Support Obviousness Conclusion

By Heather R. Kissling on Posted in Appeals, Sections 102/103
Recent Federal Circuit decisions reversing or remanding PTAB holdings of obviousness have faulted the Board for failing to clearly articulate its reasoning.  See our previous posts here and here.  In In re Stepan Co., No. 2016-1811 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 25, 2017), a split CAFC panel vacated a PTAB ex parte appeal decision affirming an obviousness … Continue Reading

PTAB Exercised Discretion to Terminate Ex Parte Reexaminations in Ariosa v. Illumina; CAFC to Review

thumbnail image of DNA strandBy Heather R. Kissling on Posted in Biotechnology, Inter Partes Review, IPR
Third parties seeking to challenge pre-AIA patents in the USPTO often choose between IPR and ex parte reexamination.  In some cases, petitioners pursue both proceedings, sequentially or in parallel, taking advantage of different timelines to completion, different standards for institution, and using insights gained in one proceeding in the other.  The PTAB recently exercised its … Continue Reading
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