Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has announced that he won’t be seeking re-election to the Senate for a ninth term. First elected in 1974, Senator Leahy has spent nearly 50 years in the Senate, focused on a wide variety of issues. Intellectual property is one of those issues, and it’s an issue where he’s been a…
Tag Archive for ipr
Sens. Leahy and Tillis to Chief Justice Roberts: Something’s Up In Waco
by Josh Landau •
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s IP Subcommittee had an active day yesterday with members sending out a pair of letters that suggest that they see some serious problems in the patent system. The first letter, sent by both Chairman Leahy and Ranking Member Tillis to Chief Justice Roberts, in his role as head of the Judicial…
Arthrex, Mobility Workx, and Director Review at Institution
by Josh Landau •
There’s been a fair amount of discussion regarding Judge Newman’s dissent in last week’s Mobility Workx case. In Mobility Workx, a divided panel of the Federal Circuit rejected a variety of constitutional challenges to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Judges Dyk and Schall, in the majority, found no merit in the due process…
Leahy and Cornyn Introduce Bill To Restore The America Invents Act
by Josh Landau •
Yesterday, Senate Judiciary IP Subcommittee Chair Sen. Leahy (D-VT) and committee member Sen. Cornyn (R-TX) introduced the Restoring the America Invents Act (RAIA). RAIA would roll back changes introduced by former USPTO Director Andrei Iancu and by the courts, restoring the America Invents Act (AIA) to what it was always intended to be—a cost-effective alternative…
Arthrex Is Here—What Will It Mean?
by Josh Landau •
Yesterday, the Supreme Court handed down its much-awaited decision—at least, much-awaited by people who care about patents and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB)—in the consolidated U.S. v Arthrex, Arthrex v. Smith & Nephew, and Smith & Nephew v. Arthrex cases. And while the multiple parties and multiple opinions might look complicated, it’s actually…
New Study Shows That IPR Delivers An Economic Benefit, Even If The District Court Doesn’t Stay Litigation
by Josh Landau •
New research from the Perryman Group shows that inter partes review (IPR) is economically beneficial, even if co-pending district court litigation isn’t stayed. The Perryman study, commissioned by Unified Patents, examines IPR’s economic impact, including the difference between staying or continuing on with a co-pending district court case. There are two important findings in this…
Comments on USPTO’s Newest Regulation Overall Oppose Discretionary Denial Rules
by Josh Landau •
The USPTO is considering whether to enshrine discretionary denial of inter partes review cases into regulation. Last week, comments were due on the most recent portion of this process. (CCIA’s comments criticizing the current General Plastic, Valve, NHK Spring, and Fintiv precedential opinions, and explaining why they should not be converted into rules, can be…
PTAB Denies IPR Petitions Filed Less Than One Month After Lawsuit
by Josh Landau •
On Monday, the PTAB made clear that the ultimate outcome of the Fintiv rule championed by Director Iancu is the elimination of inter partes review (IPR) as a viable alternative to challenging patents in litigation. RAI sued Philip Morris on April 9th, 2020. Less than a month later, on May 8th, 2020, Philip Morris filed…
Cert Granted in Arthrex Case On PTAB Appointments
by Josh Landau •
This week, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in a set of related cases between Arthrex and Smith & Nephew, as well as the federal government. The cases revolve around one fundamental question: are judges of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) principal officers of the United States? That question controls the constitutionality of their…
Comments Emphasize Flaws In PTO Proposal To Remove Pre-Institution Presumption
by Josh Landau •
Recently, the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) proposed a concerning new rule. It would create serious due process problems, violate the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by changing an agency position without justification, increase the cost of inter partes review (IPR), and make it harder to invalidate bad patents in IPR. Given all these problems, it…