Hogan Lovells’ U.S. + German Patent Update reports on recent patent news and cases from Germany and the United States. The most recent update is available in English here. This update covers the following developments across the U.S. and Germany: United States PTAB Has Discretion to Join Parties and New Issues in “Limited Circumstances” – Proppant Express Investments, LLC v. Oren Technologies, LLC (13 March 2019) PTAB Establishes New Precedent and Pilot Program for…

Hogan Lovells’ U.S. + German Patent Update reports on recent patent news and cases from Germany and the United States. The January 2019 Update is available in the following languages: English language available here 日本語(Japanese language) available here 한국어 (Korean language) available here The January 2019 spotlight article covers a recent Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) decision in Germany concerning ex parte preliminary injunctions. In this case, the first instance / appeal courts had issued preliminary injunctions…

In this post, we discuss the sovereign immunity defence for IPRs which has garnered much attention, with the final chapter likely ending up at SCOTUS. The article was first published in Intellectual Property Magazine, April 2018. Summary So how does the sovereign immunity saga end? The PTAB and Congress have already made their scepticism of tribal sovereign immunity known. Despite that, one should not expect a definitive answer for some time. Initial action in Congress…

In this post we examine how Section 101, IPRs and sovereign immunity defences are set to shape the board’s procedures and strategies over the coming months. The article was first published in Intellectual Property Magazine, March 2018. Before projecting the future, it is important to reflect on the past. The US Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) in 2017 saw roughly the same number of filings as the two preceding years (ref. 1). The institution rate…