With the implementation of the America Invents Act of 2011, inter partes review proceedings at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board have become a popular way to challenge the validity of a patent. The types of information which may be used to challenge validity are limited to ‘‘patents and printed publications.’’ Typically, when practitioners think of ‘‘printed publications,’’ they think of articles in academic or industry journals. However, sometimes useful prior art references are neither patents nor journal articles, but another type of document. In such instances, a party contemplating a validity challenge should consider whether the document is a ‘‘printed publication’’ under the statute.

Originally published in Bloomberg BNA’s Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal - February 2016.