Unified Patents Insights Webinar This Thursday This Thursday April 1st, Unified Patent’s Insight Webinar series (free) will present its April offering at 12PM(EST): The PTAB and the Western Way: How Judge Albright’s Court and the Board Interact In the webinar, the panel will  explore the impact of the Western District of Texas on the patent landscape, particularly how it has affected the ability to seek AIA trial proceedings at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board…

Joinder Estoppel Revisited A few weeks back, the federal Circuit handed down a decision in Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Facebook Inc, capping off a complicated procedural history.  In its decision, the Court sorted out the estoppel impact of IPRs finishing a few months earlier than others, and what that meant for parties common to these IPRs. Left unanalyzed, however, was whether or not the PTAB’s initial finding of estoppel was appropriate in the first instance…

APA Challenge Strikes a Chord I’ve read a number of articles over the past few days that argue since the mandamus on Fintiv failed in Mylan Laboratories Ltd. v. Janssen Pharmaceuticals N.V., that this decision somehow forecloses the relief sought in the APA suit against the USPTO — not even close.  The question of appellate jurisdiction over denied institution decisions (or what would amount to a proper mandamus) has absolutely nothing to do with the…

Webinar to Discuss Motions at the PTAB This Thursday March 18th, from noon to 1PM (EST), the PTAB will conduct a Boardside chat to discuss motions practice in PTAB trial proceedings. Judges Erica Franklin and Eric Jeschke will present an overview of requirements for PTAB trial motions in general and provide a review of certain types of motions. The webinar is free and open to all. There will be a Q&A session at the end.…

Targeting a Moving Target For those seeking some PTAB-related CLE this month, don’t miss today’s one-hour briefing, entitled: PTAB 2021 – Targeting a Moving Target. Practising Law Institute is presenting the program today at 1pm (EST). Register (here) The program will explore the recent uptick in reexamination filings, the current trends with respect to 314(a), the potential impact of Arthrex and a new Director, pending 314(a) litigation, potential rule changes/proposals and more. …

Amicus Briefing May Help Get SCOTUS Attention on Growing 101 Morass In one of the more closely-watched cases involving patent eligibility, American Axle v. Neapco, Judge Moore recently highlighted how “bitterly divided” the Federal Circuit is on patent eligibility, and predicted with a “reasonable probability” that the Supreme Court will step in and force the Federal Circuit to reverse course on issues of eligibility. American Axle—involving driveline propeller shafts for automotive engines—highlights the sharp divide…

Court Explores Potential Outcomes in Arthrex As I have discussed previously, Arthrex is more of an academic exercise for constitutional and administrative law nerds scholars than anything else.  Today’s oral argument has done nothing to disabuse me of that notion.  While it is a fool’s errand to speculate at a SCOTUS outcome based on oral arguments, I am the perfect man for the job 🙂…