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Articles Posted in USPTO

Published on: February 4, 2026

USPTO Restores Strict RPI Filing Date Rule

by Gregory S. Cordrey

On February 3, 2026, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) de-designated Proppant Express Investments, LLC v. Oren Technologies, LLC and Adello Biologics LLC v. Amgen Inc. from precedential status. In both decisions, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) held that a petitioner may amend its identification of real parties in interest (RPIs) while maintaining the petition’s original filing date after considering: (1) whether the petitioner has attempted to circumvent the time bar or estoppel rules; (2) petitioner bad faith; (3) prejudice to a patent owner from the delay; and (4) petitioner gamesmanship. Proppant Express Invests., LLC v. Oren Techs., LLC, IPR2017-01917, Paper 86 (PTAB Feb. 13, 2019); Adello Biologics LLC v. Amgen Inc., PGR2019-00001, Paper 11 (PTAB Feb. 14, 2019).

These decisions are de-designated and no longer binding on the PTAB because they conflict with the decision in Corning Optical Communications RF, LLC v. PPC Broadband Inc., IPR2014-00440, Paper 68 (PTAB Aug. 18, 2015) (precedential) (“Corning Optical“), which holds that a petitioner’s amended identification of RPIs requires according the petition a new filing date. Corning Optical, IPR2014-00440, Paper 68 at 23.

The Corning Optical Rule: No Second Chances on RPI Disclosure

The reinstated Corning Optical decision establishes a bright-line rule with severe consequences for petitioners who fail to properly identify all real parties in interest at the outset of inter partes review proceedings.

In Corning Optical, the PTAB granted Patent Owner PPC Broadband’s motion to dismiss three IPR proceedings and vacated its earlier institution decisions after determining that Petitioner Corning Optical Communications RF, LLC failed to identify two related Corning entities as RPIs: its parent company Corning Incorporated and its sister company Corning Optical Communications LLC (Corning NC). The Board’s analysis focused on two critical inquiries: funding and control.

The evidence revealed:

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