Cancellation of Claims Deemed An Inappropriate Sanction
By Jessie Hess,* Pranita Dhungana, and Matthew Johnson - USPTO Acting Director Stewart sua sponte reconsidered and modified a previous Director Review decision that had affirmed cancellation of all 183 challenged claims as a sanction against patent owner Longhorn...
Two Week Deadline for PTAB to Issue Notice of Filing Date Accorded
By Chris Hodge and S. Christian Platt – On July 18, 2025, Scott R. Boalick, Chief Administrative Patent Judge for the Patent Trials and Appeals Board (“PTAB”), announced that, absent good cause, the PTAB will issue a Notice of Filing Date Accorded within 14 days from...
Subsequent Challenge Does Not Justify Discretionary Denial
By Evan Tassis and Matt Johnson - In a recent decision, Acting Director Coke Morgan Stewart denied a Patent Owner’s request for discretionary denial in LifeVac, LLC v. DCSTAR, Inc., IPR2025-00454. Even though Petitioner had previously challenged the same patent in a...
Acting Director Clarifies Multi-Petition Policy for Competing Constructions
By Levent Herguner and Matt Johnson - On June 25, 2025, Acting Director Coke Stewart released an informative decision vacating institution of inter partes review (“IPR”) based on two petitions that were primarily filed to present two different constructions....
Inventor Testimony of Reduction Date Leads to Denial
By Jessie Hess*, Christian Roberts, and Matthew Johnson - The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) denied institution of an inter partes review (IPR) brought by Par-Kan Company, LLC against Unverferth Manufacturing Company regarding U.S. Patent No. 8,967,940 (“the...