Category: Patent Trial & Appeal Board
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Apple IPR petitions discretionarily denied due to differing constructions at PTAB and district court
Apple “tells a different story” in district court litigation compared to its claim construction position at the PTAB, according to USPTO Director John A. Squires.
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USPTO Director orders PTAB to reconsider invalidity finding for Pictiva patent at center of $191M damages claim against Samsung
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board and an Eastern District of Texas jury came to opposing conclusions about the validity of the PAE’s OLED patent.
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USPTO Director Squires extends 14-day deadline for Director Review of institution decisions to 30 days – or more “in exceptional circumstances”
He noted that “changed circumstances can surface after the deadline… has elapsed but before trial has progressed meaningfully” and that sua sponte Director Review is “not always the most efficient process”.
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Lessons for prior art search providers as Federal Circuit again sides with Valve in appeal over game controller patent
“Something more is required” for estoppel when a classification search returns tens of thousands of results; while forward-and-backward citation searches may result in hindsight bias.
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Verizon hit with $190M jury verdict in infringement suit brought by Aspen Networks over Wi-Fi/cell switching; AT&T, T-Mobile up next
Aspen Networks sued the three U.S. mobile service providers in the Eastern District of Texas in late 2023.
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USPTO Director goes against the grain, sides with inter partes review petitioner Tesla to reject discretionary denial request
After a raft of decisions and memoranda effectively telling IPR petitioners what they shouldn’t do, Director John Squires highlights a potential pathway to successful institution.
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PTAB invalidates final Centripetal patent tied to vacated $1.9 billion Cisco verdict
The PTAB on remand found several of the patent-at-issue’s claims obvious over a single prior art reference, ruling that even credible evidence of copying by Cisco couldn’t overcome a “strong case of obviousness” where the prior art was “essentially anticipatory”.
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Micron files declaratory judgment action on same day as patent grant in expansion of chipmakers’ fight with Netlist
The dispute over JEDEC-compliant memory technologies continues with a newly issued patent in the mix.
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Multiple amicus briefs filed after Google’s Supreme Court petition questioning USPTO’s “settled expectations” approach
Google argues the agency “has exceeded its statutory authority” in refusing to review patents in force for more than six years.
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Federal Circuit reverses fee award and sanctions based on broad scope of what is purely lack of merit
The Federal Circuit affirmed dismissal of mCom’s banking patent suits and upheld invalidity findings against the remaining asserted claims, but reversed both the fee award and the sanctions imposed against counsel, reiterating that unsuccessful patent litigation alone does not establish exceptional or abusive conduct.