Tag Archives: Ex Parte

Bizarre Facts Beget Bizarre Result

Before the Federal Circuit’s recent decision in In re Vivint, Inc., Appeal 2020-1992 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 29, 2021), the Patent Trial and Appeal Board affirmed a reexamination examiner’s final rejection of Vivint’s patent claims as unpatentable over prior art. In due course, the Patent Office would have issued a certificate canceling those claims. But Vivint … Continue Reading

The Board Is Deciding Ex Parte Appeals Within One Year

By Sandip H. Patel on May 10, 2021 Posted in Appeals, Ex Parte

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board recently presented an update on the “Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program” the Patent Office initiated in July 2020. As we previously explained (link), the program is designed to reduce the pendency of ex parte appeals. Under the program, the Board has been issuing decisions within six months from the date … Continue Reading

Fast-Track Decisions on Ex Parte Appeals

By Sandip H. Patel on July 8, 2020 Posted in Ex Parte

On July 2, 2020, the Patent Office initiated the “Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program,” which it designed to reduce the pendency of ex parte appeals. The program, effective for one year, is in a pilot stage to gauge the public’s interest and to assess its longer-term feasibility. The Office neither expects nor intends any delays for … Continue Reading

Is the Written Description Requirement a Nose of Wax?

By Sandip H. Patel on July 16, 2019 Posted in Ex Parte, Section 112

In re Global IP Holdings LLC, Appeal 2018-1426 (Fed. Cir. July 5,2019), concerns patent law’s written description requirement, under 35 USC § 112. The patentee is trying to reissue its patent on a carpeted load floor of a car. The patented floor includes thermoplastic components. The components, according to the patentee, ought not have been … Continue Reading

Attorneys’ Fees Not Awardable Expenses in Section 145 Actions

By Michael R. Weiner on September 25, 2018 Posted in Appeals

Update: On March 4, 2019, the Supreme Court granted the Government’s cert. petition to review the Federal Circuit’s judgment in NantKwest, Inc. v. Iancu, discussed in the post below. The Court’s docket for this case is 18-801. In NantKwest, Inc. v. Iancu, No. 2016-1794 (Fed. Cir. Jul. 27, 2018) (en banc), the Federal Circuit decided en … Continue Reading