Matthew Cutler

Intellectual property owners frequently face difficulties getting their work removed from websites run by companies like Google and Apple, and other service providers where users upload infringing material. The service providers may provide forms and contact information for an intellectual property rights owner to contact when infringing material is found on their site. But, even strict adherence to the service provider’s procedures often fails to result in the removal of the infringing material. This leaves IP owners frustrated by a seeming inability to remove infringing content from the Internet.

Disappointing some (i.e., Patent Owners) who were looking for a more significant changes to the rules governing inter partes review, post grant review, and/or covered business method review, on April 1, 2016, the Patent Office issued its Amendments to the Rules of Practice for Trials Before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. About one year earlier, the Office hinted at the possibility of more sweeping proposals for change, but many of the more major proposals were not implemented and only more incremental change was adopted. Here are the five things every Patent Owner and Petitioner must know about the new ground rules governing the most seismic change in patent law in several generations – post grant administrative trials.