Senate Confirms Kathi Vidal as USPTO Director
On April 5, 2022, the Senate confirmed Kathi Vidal as the new Director of the USPTO by voice vote. President Joe Biden nominated Vidal for the post last October. The position had been vacant since Andrei Iancu resigned in January 2021. The duties of the Director...
PTAB Denies Joinder Motion Filed More Than One Month After PGR Institution
By Christian Roberts and Matt Johnson - Typically, a Motion for Joinder to an earlier post-grant review (“PGR”) must be filed within one month of the institution of the earlier PGR. 37 C.F.R. § 42.222(b). While the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) does have...
Petition Survives Word Count Complaint And Request for Withdrawal
By Akosua Kyereme-Tuah, Mike Lavine, and Matt Johnson - The PTAB recently denied a motion to dismiss a Revised Petition and terminate an inter partes review (IPR) proceeding despite Petitioner’s alleged withdrawal of the Original Petition and failure to comply with...
Joinder Denied For Petitioner Whose Invalidity Case Was Dismissed With Prejudice
By Sue Gerber and Matt Johnson - In the PTAB’s recent decision in Code 200 v. Bright Data Ltd., IPR2021-01503, Paper No. 13 (PTAB Mar. 14, 2022), the PTAB expounded upon the circumstances in which joinder of a “me-too” case under § 315(b) was not warranted. In that...
PGR Estoppel Continues to be Broad and Onerous
By Hannah Mehrle and Josh Nightingale - An ITC Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) recently issued an initial determination holding that PGR estoppel prevented GMG Products LLC (Respondent) from raising two prior-art products in the ITC. Under Section 325(e)(2) of the AIA...