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District Court Declines to Lift Stay Even After Patent Trial and Appeal Board Issued Written Decision on CBM Petitions

The district court stayed several consolidated cases pending certain proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”). In the order granting the stay, the district court stated: “Upon issuance of a final decision from the PTAB, the parties shall request that the stay be lifted so this case may proceed.”

After the PTAB issued a written decision, Ameranth filed a Notice of Ruling Regarding Issuance of Final Written Decisions; Request to Lift Stay. Defendants filed a response to the notice and both briefs disclosed that the PTAB had issued a written decision on the petitions for CBM review on March 20, 2015.

As a result of that decision, Ameranth requested that the district court lift the stay. Defendants argued that the request was premature as the time for requesting reconsideration of that decision or filing an appeal had not yet run.

The district court agreed with Defendants and denied Ameranth’s request to lift the stay. “The stay shall remain in place until the time for seeking reconsideration or filing an appeal of the PTAB’s decision has expired. If either party decides to seek reconsideration or file an appeal, the stay shall remain in place until those proceedings are completed.”

In re: Ameranth Patent Litigation Case, Case No. 11cv1810 DMS (WVG) (S.D. Cal. April 3, 2015)

The authors of www.PatentLawyerBlog.com are patent trial lawyers at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP. For more information about this case, contact Stan Gibson at 310.201.3548 or SGibson@jmbm.com.