On June 11, 2020, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board designated as precedential a decision regarding when agreements collateral to settlement must be disclosed under 35 U.S.C. § 317(b). The Board also designated as informative three decisions: one instituting post-grant review of a design patent, one terminating a proceeding due to settlement without deciding the patent owner’s motion to amend, and one providing guidance on the use of confidential information during an oral hearing. Precedential decisions are binding on all Board panels. Informative decisions are not binding, but they do provide Board norms on recurring issues, guidance on issues of first impression to the Board, guidance on Board rules and practices, and guidance on issues that may develop through analysis of recurring issues in many cases. Patent Trial and Appeal Board Standard Operating Procedure 2 (Rev. 10) at 9.
