Two’s a Crowd: Prior Art in Design Patent Claim Construction
By John Evans and Hannah Mehrle - On April 15, 2021, the PTAB issued a Final Written Decision in the LKQ Corp. case finding a design patent claiming a vehicle fender panel unpatentable as obvious. IPR2020-00064, Paper No. 39 (Apr. 15, 2021). The obviousness analysis...
Boardside Chat Discusses Remote Hearings
By Sarah Geers - On April 11, 2021, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) held a Boardside Chat webinar to discuss remote hearings in AIA trials and ex parte appeals. The discussion featured panelists Lead judges Georgianna Braden and Jessica Kaiser, Deputy Chief...
PTAB Statistics Through Five Months of FY2021
By Matt Johnson – The institution rate for post-grant challenges in current FY 2021 (Oct. 1, 2020 through Feb. 28, 2021) stands at 61% (305 instituted, 198 denied) compared to 56% in the previous fiscal year. This rate is more consistent with FY 2017-2019, where...
Interference Estoppel Precludes All Arguments That Could Have Been Raised
By Sue Gerber and Matt Johnson - This blog has previously discussed the effect of several different types of estoppel. See, e.g., Estoppel Estopped for Remanded Claims, Reminder: Estoppel May Not Preclude Prior-Art Systems, and PGR Estoppel Applies to Unasserted...
From Respiratory Care to Power Plants: The PTAB on Analogous Art
By Albert Liou and Jen Bachorik - We recently wrote about the Federal Circuit’s 2020 decision in Donner Technology, LLC. v. Pro Stage Gear, LLC, where the Federal Circuit vacated the PTAB’s denial of an obviousness challenge due to its finding that the prior art was...