PTAB Can Consider § 101 When Reviewing Amended Claims

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has designated as precedential a decision holding that the Board may consider § 101 when evaluating the patentability of a patent owner’s proposed substitute claims in a motion to amend. The decision clarifies the impact of the Federal Circuit’s Aqua Products decision on the issue of subject matter eligibility of substitute claims. Continue reading “PTAB Can Consider § 101 When Reviewing Amended Claims”

Successful Motions to Amend Claims at the PTAB

In April, the USPTO released the results of a study on claim amendments in AIA proceedings. The study showed that of 118 Motions to Amend Claims filed at the PTAB, just six had been granted. The abysmal success rate of patent owners seeking to amend claims (just 5% by the PTO’s own numbers) has been a source of strong criticism of the PTAB.

For patent owners searching for a successful amendment strategy, we’ve collected the allowed claim amendments from those six successful motions to amend at the PTAB, which are presented below: Continue reading “Successful Motions to Amend Claims at the PTAB”

Federal Circuit to Review PTAB’s Amendment Practice

Earlier this month the Federal Circuit granted en banc review of the PTAB’s process for reviewing Motions to Amend Claims in AIA proceedings. In the case In re Aqua Products, the patent owner argues that it met the statutory requirements for making a claim amendment but the PTAB failed to enter the amendment based on a erroneous interpretation of the statute which results in additional, onerous requirements being levied on a patent owner. Continue reading “Federal Circuit to Review PTAB’s Amendment Practice”

PTAB Clarifies Meaning of “Prior Art … Known to the Patent Owner”

Last week the PTAB sought to clarify the somewhat controversial requirement that a patent owner must “persuade the Board that the [amended] claim is patentable over the prior art of record, and over prior art not of record but known to the patent owner.” Idle Free Sys., Inc. v. Bergstrom, Inc., IPR2012-00027, Paper 26, 7 (PTAB June 11, 2013). Some PTAB commentators had previously suggested that a patent owner should go so far as to submit a certified prior art search in order to demonstrate good faith compliance with the broad language of Idle Free. This requirement is one of many which makes it extremely difficult for a patent owner to successfully amend claims at the PTAB. (For our full discussion of a Motion to Amend Claims, click here). Continue reading “PTAB Clarifies Meaning of “Prior Art … Known to the Patent Owner””

Mission (Nearly) Impossible: Motion to Amend Claims

With the Patent Trial and Appeal Board recently granting a patent owner’s motion to amend claims for just the third time in its nearly three-year history, it seems like a good time to review the high bar the Board has set for such motions. See REG Synthetic Fuels, LLC v. Neste Oil OYJ, IPR2014-00192, Paper 48, 18-30 (PTAB June 5, 2015); Riverbed Tech. Inc. v. Silver Peak Sys. Inc., IPR2013-00402, Paper 35 (PTAB Dec. 30, 2014); Int’l Flavors & Fragrances Inc. v. United States, IPR2013-00124, Paper 12 (PTAB May 20, 2014).

Continue reading “Mission (Nearly) Impossible: Motion to Amend Claims”

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The opinions expressed on this blog are those of the author and are not to be construed as legal advice.

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