Director Denies Institution for Inconsistent Claim Constructions
The Director designated three decisions as informative, vacating or denying IPR institution where petitioners advanced plain-meaning constructions at the PTAB and indefiniteness in district court.
Director Terminates IPRs for Sotera Violations and the District Court Strikes Invalidity Contentions
By Robby Breetz, Ali Morgan,* and Matt Johnson - On May 12, 2026, the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”), John Squires, granted a patent owner’s motion to terminate three related inter partes reviews (“IPRs”) based on the petitioner’s...
Failure To Cite Own Prior Art Tanks Patent Owner’s Discretionary Denial Request
By Mike Lavine - In Microsoft Corporation v. Sandpiper CDN, LLC, IPR2026-00180 (Paper 15, May 6, 2026), Director Squires denied Sandpiper CDN’s request for discretionary denial of Microsoft’s IPR petition, finding that (1) not all of Microsoft’s challenges relied on...
Federal Circuit Clarifies Prior Art Effective Date Relative To Provisional
By Charles Kim and Anuja Mehta - The Federal Circuit recently issued a precedential decision in Dental Monitoring SAS v. Align Technology, Inc., vacating and remanding a PTAB final written decision that held Dental Monitoring’s claims unpatentable as obvious. Key...
Director’s View on Discretionary Denials: No “Second Bite at the Apple”
By Bill Devitt, Ashvi Patel, and Maddy Hemphill* - In Magnolia Medical Technologies, Inc. v. Kurin, Inc., IPR2026-00097 (“Decision”), Director Squires issued a precedential decision denying institution of inter partes review (“IPR”)—and in doing so, also provided...