On November 3, 2015, the Federal Circuit issued Belden Inc. v. Berk-Tek LLC1, a rare precedential opinion reversing a determination by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) in an inter partes review proceeding. This is only the second reversal in over 40 decisions, this time reversing in favor of the petitioner.

There are two key points to take away from Belden. First, the Court reversed a factual finding involving obviousness based on what it found to be a sufficient motivation to combine, ruling in the petitioner’s favor. Second, the Court suggested that a patent owner should be more assertive in seeking procedural remedies that are not expressly set forth in the Office’s rules and practice guides, for example, by requesting a sur-reply or waiver of the rules...