PRECEDENTIAL: PTAB Clarifies Real Party in Interest Analysis
By Carl Kukkonen and Matt Johnson - The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has designated as precedential a decision that squarely reaffirms the statutory requirement to identify all real parties in interest (RPI) in AIA petitions. By elevating Corning Optical...
Collateral Estoppel May Not Apply When Claim Interpretation Standards Differ
By Thane Bonnett* and Matt Johnson - In its recent decision in RØDE Microphones, LLC et. al. vs. Zaxcom, Inc., the PTAB declined to apply collateral estoppel based on prior post-grant proceedings because the prior proceedings had applied a different standard of...
Proposed Rulemaking Aims to Change Access to IPR Proceedings
By Thane Bonnett,* Daniel Sloan, and Matt Johnson - On October 17, 2025, the USPTO issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (“Notice”) regarding the rules of practice for inter partes review before the PTAB. The proposed rules do not apply to post grant review...
Director Terminates Proceeding Based on Inconsistent Testimony
By David Linden, Dave Maiorana, Thane Bonnett,* and Pranita Dhungana - On October 1, 2025, USPTO Director John Squires issued his first Director Review decision, terminating in whole IPR2024-00465 (“IPR465”) based on unreliable and inconsistent expert testimony. In...
Discretionary Decision Statistics Update
By Adam J. Cook, Daniel C. Sloan, and Matt Johnson - The October 17 Memo from Director Squires marked the end of a distinct discretionary denial era, the Interim Era. Per the memo, as of October 20, all institution decisions (discretionary, non-discretionary, and...