On March 26, 2025, the USPTO issued the attached memo titled “Interim Processes for PTAB Workload Management,” which significantly alters the pre-institution briefing procedure for IPRs and PGRs.
Under the Interim Process,...more
Parties involved in Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) proceedings sometimes contemplate submitting experimental data to support their positions. Although such data can be useful, there also are risks. Several recent cases...more
3/7/2025
/ America Invents Act ,
Claim Construction ,
Discovery ,
Duty of Candor ,
Evidence ,
Expert Testimony ,
Final Written Decisions ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Obviousness ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Ownership ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Prior Art ,
Sanctions
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) continues to play a pivotal role in shaping the intellectual property landscape. In 2024, several developments affecting PTAB practice emerged, from new rulemaking at the USPTO to key...more
2/4/2025
/ §315(e) ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
America Invents Act ,
Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Director of the USPTO ,
Final Rules ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Obviousness ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Ownership ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Prior Art ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Section 102 ,
Statistical Analysis ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Technology ,
USPTO
Over the last 20-plus years, US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit cases concerning written description and enablement have become a hot-button issue in the chemical and life sciences practices. The year 2021 was no...more
3/15/2022
/ America Invents Act ,
Biologics ,
Biotechnology ,
Claim Construction ,
Ex Partes Reexamination ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Life Sciences ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Section 112 ,
USPTO ,
Written Descriptions
Love it or hate it, ignore the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) at your peril. The introduction of the PTAB as part of the America Invents Act over ten years ago has forever changed patent litigation. In its first...more
3/8/2022
/ America Invents Act ,
Biologics ,
Claim Construction ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Estoppel ,
Evidence ,
Ex Partes Reexamination ,
Expert Testimony ,
Final Written Decisions ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Motion to Amend ,
Obviousness ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Prior Art ,
Section 112 ,
Section 325(d) ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
USPTO
[co-author: Jamie Dohopolski]
Love it or hate it, ignore the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) at your peril. The introduction of the PTAB as part of the America Invents Act over ten years ago has forever changed...more
3/7/2022
/ §315(e) ,
35 U.S.C. § 285 ,
America Invents Act ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Biologics ,
Biosimilars ,
Biotechnology ,
Chemical Compounds ,
Claim Construction ,
Collateral Estoppel ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Credibility ,
Declaration ,
Depositions ,
Enhanced Damages ,
Estoppel ,
Evidence ,
Ex Partes Reexamination ,
Exceptional Case ,
Expert Testimony ,
Expert Witness ,
Final Written Decisions ,
Hatch-Waxman ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
Inventors ,
Life Sciences ,
Motion to Amend ,
Obviousness ,
Orange Book ,
Parallel Proceedings ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Cancellation ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Prosecution History ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Pre-AIA Patents ,
Printed Publications ,
Prior Art ,
Section 112 ,
Section 325(d) ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
Testimony ,
USPTO ,
USPTO Pilot Program ,
Vacated ,
Written Descriptions
The second episode of IP Hot Topics features part two of our “Innovation Conversations” discussion with renowned author, analyst, journalist, historian and Tulane University professor Walter Isaacson. Sterne Kessler Directors...more
The second episode of IP Hot Topics features part two of our “Innovation Conversations” discussion with renowned author, analyst, journalist, historian and Tulane University professor Walter Isaacson. Sterne Kessler Directors...more
Welcome to Innovation Conversations, a special series of Sterne Kessler's IP Hot Topics podcast. I'm your series host, Trey Powers, a Director in Sterne Kessler's biotech and litigation practice groups. Joining me as a cohost...more
9/25/2020
/ Biotechnology ,
CRISPR ,
DNA ,
Innovation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Interviews ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Podcasts ,
Scientific Research ,
Technology Sector
In this inaugural edition of the IP Hot Topics podcast, we kick off our Innovation Conversations series. We’re joined by renowned author, analyst, journalist, historian and Tulane University professor Walter Isaacson....more
9/25/2020
/ Biotechnology ,
CRISPR ,
DNA ,
Innovation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Podcasts ,
Scientific Research ,
Technology Sector
Long before the AIA, declarations were a tool that was available during patent prosecution to put evidence, e.g., post-filing data and expert opinions, in front of an Examiner to rebut obviousness or lack of enablement...more
7/24/2020
/ 37 C.F.R. § 1.132 Declaration ,
Administrative Procedure ,
America Invents Act ,
Declaration ,
Defense Strategies ,
Enablement Inquiries ,
Evidence ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Obviousness ,
Patent Prosecution ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Pre-AIA Patents ,
Standard of Proof ,
USPTO
These graphs and charts appear as the center spread feature in the 2019 PTAB Year in Review: Analysis & Trends report....more
Powerful. Resilient. Ever-evolving. These characteristics of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) were on full display in 2019. This past year the PTAB received more than 1,300 inter partes review (IPR), post grant review...more
3/5/2020
/ Claim Construction ,
Concurrent Litigation ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Covered Business Method Proceedings ,
Design Patent ,
Estoppel ,
Evidentiary Standards ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Motion to Amend ,
Motion To Stay ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Trial Practice Guidance
The USPTO has published a final rule, changing the claim construction standard applied during post-grant proceedings (inter partes reviews, post-grant reviews, and covered business methods reviews) before the Office’s Patent...more
10/12/2018
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Appeals ,
Broadest Reasonable Interpretation Standard ,
Claim Construction ,
Collateral Estoppel ,
Covered Business Method Proceedings ,
Final Rules ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Owner Preliminary Response ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Phillips Standard ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Standard of Review ,
USPTO
In Phigenix v. ImmunoGen, Appeal No. 16-1544 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 9, 2017), a precedential decision, the Federal Circuit found that the petitioner lacked standing to appeal the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) final written...more
1/12/2017
/ Appeals ,
Article III ,
Burden of Production ,
Dismissals ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Judicial Review ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Standing
On August 20th, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published proposed rules that would amend the consolidated set of rules currently governing Inter Partes Reviews, Post-Grant Reviews, Covered Business Method Reviews, and...more
8/26/2015
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Broadest Reasonable Interpretation Standard ,
Covered Business Method Proceedings ,
Discovery ,
Duty of Candor ,
Evidence ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Joinder ,
Motion to Amend ,
Patent Owner Preliminary Response ,
Patent Ownership ,
Patents ,
Pleadings ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Testimony ,
USPTO
What is an inter partes review?
An inter partes review (“IPR”) enables a third party to challenge one or more claims in an issued patent at the United States Patent & Trademark Office (“Office”). IPR was designed to...more