Posts Tagged: "PTAB"

CAFC Clarifies Section 103 Prior Art Enablement Requirement, Reverses PTAB Obviousness Finding

Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) reversed an inter partes review (IPR) decision from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) in Raytheon Technologies Corporation (Raytheon) v. General Electric Company (GE). The PTAB found claims 3 and 16 of U.S. Patent No. (the ‘751 patent) unpatentable under Section103 as obvious in view of a 1987 NASA technical memorandum (the “Knip” reference). Raytheon submitted evidence that the Knip reference relied on the use of nonexistent composite materials, and thus failed to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the claimed invention. The PTAB sided with GE, even though GE made no attempt to rebut the evidence presented by Raytheon. The CAFC disagreed.

PTAB Masters™ 2021, Day One: How Iancu Tried to Repair a ‘Damaged Brand’

While steps taken under former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director Andrei Iancu to restore equilibrium at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) have improved a bad situation to some extent, in many ways the damage has been done, said IPWatchdog founder and CEO Gene Quinn during a keynote interview with Iancu earlier today, on day one of the PTAB Masters ™ 2021: Winning at the PTAB Series. “It felt sometimes like the PTAB was making it up as they went along,” said Quinn to Iancu. “It eroded the confidence of patent owners. I do think it’s getting to be more of an equilibrium, but it’s a damaged brand.”

Patent Filings Roundup: Disney Displeasure Cruise; WSOU Investments’ Recordation Problems; and Chinese Company Targets Chinese Counterfeiters in U.S. Court

A slightly higher than average 38 petitions were filed at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) last week, all inter partes reviews (IPRs), a number again propped up by five more patent filings against the prolific Craig Etchegoyen-led WSOU. That entity’s near-200 patents and 200 lawsuits brought in the district court represent roughly 5% of all 2020 litigation, and they show no signs of slowing their aggressive stance. District court litigation was roughly stable, with a few new campaigns popping up as outlined below. It’s worth noting—not because it’s evidence of any trend or even statistically significant, but just given the rarity—that for the first time since I started writing these updates more than a year ago, the USPTO did not issue any Fintiv trial date or other procedural denials.

USPTO Launches COVID-19 Fast-Track Appeals Pilot as Companion to Prioritized Examination Pilot

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced yesterday that it will launch a COVID-19 fast-track appeals pilot program beginning today. The pilot is a companion to the COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program launched last year. The latest pilot will allow an appellant to have certain COVID-19-related ex parte appeals before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) accorded fast-track status. The appeal must be related to an application that claims a product or process that is subject to an applicable Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for COVID–19 use. These may include, “but are not limited to, an Investigational New Drug (IND) application, an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE), a New Drug Application (NDA), a Biologics License Application (BLA), a Premarket Approval (PMA), or an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).”

CAFC Dismisses Apple’s Bid to Overturn PTAB Holding it Failed to Prove Qualcomm Patents Obvious

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) yesterday dismissed two appeals filed by Apple against Final Written Decisions of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) finding that Apple did not prove certain claims of two Qualcomm patents obvious. The appeal stems from a suit brought by Qualcomm in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California for infringing claims of its U.S. patents 7,844,037 and 8,683,362. Apple subsequently petitioned for inter partes review (IPR) of claims 1–14, 16–18, and 19–25 of the ’037 patent and claims 1–6 and 8–20 of the ’362 patent. The Board held that Apple did not prove the challenged claims in either patent would have been obvious, but then Apple and Qualcomm settled all worldwide litigation between them. The parties thus moved to dismiss Qualcomm’s district court action with prejudice, which the district court granted, but Apple appealed the Board’s final written decisions anyway.