Today, the PTAB’s Precedential Opinion Panel issued a precedential decision holding that even a deficient pleading triggers the one-year IPR filing period.  GoPro, Inc. v. 360Heros, Inc., IPR2018-01754 (PTAB Aug. 23, 2019) (Paper 38)
Continue Reading PTAB Issues Precedential GoPro Decision That Even Service Of “Deficient” Complaint Starts IPR Time Clock

Previously, Emily Greb posted on the Supreme Court’s decision in SAS Inst. Inc. v. Iancu, Dir. U.S. Pat. & Trademark Off., 138 S. Ct. 1348 (2018), which held that when the Board institutes an inter partes review, it must decide the patentability of all claims challenged in the IPR.

Now, Emily and Tyler Bowen, with assistance from Gene W. Lee, Bryan D. Beel, and Maria A. Stubbings, have published a short research paper entitled The Supreme Court’s SAS Decision: Has All-Or-Nothing Institution Created A Wave Of Change? [PDF]
Continue Reading The Effect Of SAS Institute v. Iancu On IPR Practice

Today, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced “revised guidance for subject matter eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101,” and “guidance on the application of 35 U.S.C. § 112 to computer-implemented inventions.”  The guidance documents are available in the Federal Register and will take effect on Monday, January 7, 2019.
Continue Reading USPTO Announces Revised Guidance for Sections 101 and 112

This morning, the US Patent and Trademark Office issued its final rule implementing district court-style claim construction at the PTAB, replacing the “broadest reasonable interpretation” standard.  The official text of the rule will publish in the Federal Register on October 11, 2018, in final form.  The new rule is not retroactive and will apply to petitions filed on or after the effective date of the final rule, which is Nov. 13, 2018 (i.e., the first federal business day after 30 days from publication). [Note: 30 days from an October 11, 2018 publication falls on Saturday, November 10, 2018, but the PTO’s press release [PDF] reports the effective date as November 13, 2018.]
Continue Reading USPTO Issues Claim Construction Final Rule for Patent Office Trials – In with Phillips, Out with BRI

We wrote previously regarding Incyte Corp. v. Concert Pharms., Inc., IPR2017-01256, in which the Board reached different conclusions regarding the availability of two pieces of prior art, over a dissent by Judge Fitzpatrick.  Regarding art referred to as the Concert Backgrounder, the Board’s earlier ruling found public accessibility where the Backgrounder was 1) identified on a cached WebCite page, 2) cited in an International Search Report for a patent application, and 3) used in a law review article that cited the WebCite page.  In a new decision in the same case, the Board ruled on Petitioner’s motion for additional discovery regarding public availability of the Concert Backgrounder, granting the discovery in part.  Interestingly, the Board declined to allow discovery that it viewed as changing the Petitioner’s theory of public availability of the art.
Continue Reading Granting A Motion For Discovery, Board Bars Changes In Theory Of The Evidence

Drug product labels (also known as prescribing information) are often asserted as prior art by patent challengers, both in front of the PTAB and in district court ANDA litigation.  Before the PTAB, using such prior art requires showing that it qualifies as a “printed publication” under 35 U.S.C. §§ 102 and 311(b).  Recently, the PTAB appears to be applying greater scrutiny to the use of such prior art when cited in invalidity grounds.  The Board’s analysis in such situations “involves a case-by-case inquiry into the facts and circumstances surrounding the reference’s disclosure to members of the public.”  Sandoz Inc. v. AbbVie Biotechnology Ltd., IPR2018-00156, Paper 11 at *9 (June 5, 2018) (citing In re Klopfenstein, 380 F.3d 1345, 1350 (Fed. Cir. 2004)).  A pair of recent rulings identify some of the evidentiary issues catching the eyes of PTAB panels as they consider invalidity arguments that rely on product-label prior art.
Continue Reading Recent PTAB Rulings Reflect Greater Scrutiny Of Product-Label Prior Art

On May 14, 2018, the Federal Circuit (Judge Linn, with Judges Reyna and Hughes) ruled on mandamus to address two important issues related to proper venue in a patent infringement case: 1) whether regional or Federal Circuit law governs the analysis of proper venue under 28 U.S.C. § 1400(b), and 2) which party bears the burden of persuasion on the issue when a defendant challenges proper venue.  The court held that Federal Circuit law applies, and the plaintiff bears the burden of persuasion.  In re: ZTE (USA) Inc., No. 2018-113 (Fed. Cir. May 14, 2018).
Continue Reading Federal Circuit to District Courts: On Venue, Apply Our Law, Not Theirs

On April 24, 2018, the Supreme Court held that the inter partes review (IPR) process, used by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) to reconsider the patentability of claims in an already-issued patent, does not violate Article III or the Seventh Amendment to the Constitution.  Oil States Energy Servs., LLC v. Greene’s Energy Grp., No. 16-712, slip op. (U.S. Apr. 24, 2018) (Supreme Court link).

Following an IPR, the PTAB ruled claims of an Oil States patent were unpatentable.  In its appeal of the PTAB ruling, Oil States argued that IPR proceedings are unconstitutional because actions to revoke a patent must be tried in an Article III court before a jury.  After the Federal Circuit summarily affirmed the PTAB’s decision, Oil States appealed to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court affirmed the Federal Circuit.Continue Reading Supreme Court Affirms Constitutionality of Inter Partes Review in Oil States Energy Servs., LLC v. Greene’s Energy Grp.