In a significant reversal for Petitioner Motorola Solutions, the Acting Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted Stellar LLC’s request for Director Review, vacated the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) earlier decision instituting inter partes review of four patents, and denied institution. The March…
On March 26, 2025, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced temporary changes to how the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) will manage its workload, particularly concerning America Invents Act (AIA) trial proceedings such as inter partes reviews (IPRs) and post-grant reviews (PGRs). Key Changes to Institution…
On March 24, 2025, the USPTO officially reinstated the Fintiv factors framework for discretionary denials in post-grant proceedings with parallel litigation, following the February 2025 rescission of its 2022 Interim Procedure. This significant policy shift returns authority to Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) judges to deny institution of inter…
In a recent order in Omega Liner Company, Inc. v. BUERGOFOL GmbH, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board denied Patent Owner’s request to submit new inventor declarations with its sur-reply, highlighting the high bar for introducing new evidence late in inter partes review proceedings. The case involves Patent 9,657,882 B2,…
In a notable Final Written Decision on Remand, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) conducted a detailed examination of the prior art status of the Krassner reference (US 10,380,602 B2) in the inter partes review between Duration Media LLC and Rich Media Club LLC. This analysis proved central to…
In a significant ruling on the scope of the inter partes review time bar, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board rejected Greenthread’s attempts to dismiss Semiconductor Components’ petition as untimely, providing key guidance on privity relationships under 35 U.S.C. § 315(b). The decision centered on Greenthread’s argument that the petition…
In a recent decision highlighting the intersection of settlements and joinder in patent challenges, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has denied Mountain Voyage’s attempt to join a terminated inter partes review (IPR) proceeding involving The Ridge Wallet’s compact wallet patent. The February 18, 2025 decision in IPR2024-01264 demonstrates…
In a recent decision highlighting the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s growing concern with multiple petition practice, the PTAB has denied Apple’s inter partes review petition challenging Smith Interface Technologies’ patent, emphasizing that less can be more when it comes to IPR strategy. The Board’s February 13, 2025 decision in…
In a recent IPR, the PTAB addressed whether a patent application (“Ueda”) filed before the challenged patent (“‘427 Patent”) was considered prior art in light of the Patent Owner’s evidence of an earlier date of invention and the proffered evidence submitted to establish it. Peloton, as the petitioner, argued that…
In its Institution Decision, the Board addressed whether Trevarthen, a bachelor’s thesis from the University of Wollongong, qualified as prior art against U.S. Patent No. 9,844,206 B2. The Board emphasized that “at the institution stage, the petition must identify, with particularity, evidence sufficient to establish a reasonable likelihood that the…