On-Again, Off-Again Inventorship
By Nate Andrews and John Evans - Deciding who invented patents can be “one of muddiest concepts in the muddy metaphysics of the patent law.” Mueller Brass Co. v. Reading Industries, Inc., 352 F. Supp. 1357, 1372 (E.D. Pa. 1972). But identifying who contributed what,...
PTAB Decision Conflicts With District Court’s
By Mike Lavine and Matt Johnson - The PTAB and District Courts do not always see eye to eye when it comes to prior art. On August 21, 2020, the Board issued a trio of final written decisions refusing to invalidate the claims of three patents, two of which have claims...
2020 PTAB Bar Association Annual Conference Rescheduled
By Sue Gerber and Matt Johnson - After having to be postponed due to coronavirus concerns, the 2020 PTAB Bar Association Annual Conference has now been rescheduled and is going forward on September 24-25, 2020, with pre-conference sessions being held September 23,...
Reliance on Machine Translations Warrants Denial of IPR Petitions
By Marc Blackman - An IPR petitioner that relies on foreign language prior art must submit an English language translation of the reference along with an affidavit attesting to the accuracy of the translation. In a recent IPR proceeding, a petitioner’s reliance on...
PGR Estoppel Applies to Unasserted Art
By Dave Maiorana - Due to the relatively low number of post-grant reviews (“PGR”) filed to date, not many district courts have spoken on the scope of PGR estoppel. In GREE, Inc. v. Supercell Oy, No. 2:19-cv-00071 (E.D. Texas), Magistrate Judge Payne in the Eastern...