Category: Ex Parte Prosecution
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Preexamination II: Landscape For Drafting
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in AI assisted patent analysis, AI assisted Patent Generation, Artificial Intelligence and Patents, Artificial Intelligence for Patents, Ex Parte Prosecution, Large Language Model (LLM), Machine Learning (ML), Patent generation to avoid validity challenges, Patent Portfolio Management, Preexamination, PTAB, PTAB Patent TrialsSeries note. This is the second post in the Preexamination series. The first was Preexamination: Seeing the Art Before the Office Does Part I argued that the introduction of AI is not simply better search. It is the ability to read a body of art, reason about what it teaches, and adapt the application while…
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Institution Discretion and the 2026 AIA Docket
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in America Invents Act, Ex Parte Prosecution, Federal Circuit Review of PTAB Proceedings, Future of PTAB Trial Practice, inter partes review, Litigation, Mandamus Actions in the Federal Circuit, Patent Portfolio Management, petitions practice, Post Grant Review, Prosecution Guidelines, PTAB, PTAB Patent Trials, PTO Director Review of AIA Trials, reexamination generally, serial petitionsSept. 2, 2026 Last September, after John Squires was confirmed as Director, I wrote that we would see whether the then-emerging line of discretionary dismissals of IPR petitions “is to be extended or will itself be tempered.” The Federal Circuit answered the reviewability half on November 6. The 2026 filing and institution numbers supply the…
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PTAB Discretionary Denials and Patent Prosecution Topics at the 2025 Midwest IP Institute
Join us at the 2025 Midwest IP Institute on September 18 and 19 for a deep dive into patent, trademark, and copyright topics. On Friday, September 19, I’ll be moderating a special panel discussing recent PTO developments that impact patent practice. We’ll explore PTAB discretionary denials, the new prior art fee structure, and their influence…
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USPTO Withdraws Proposed Rulemaking on Terminal Disclaimers
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has officially decided to halt its proposed changes to terminal disclaimer practice, a decision set to be published in the Federal Register on December 4, 2024. This move has been met with relief by many in the patent community due to the significant alterations the rulemaking would…
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Federal Circuit Employs Phillips Claim Construction to Measure Claims Amended in Reexamination for Possible Intervening Rights
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in Broadest Reasonable Interpretation, claim challenges, Claim Construction, clear and convincing evidence, covered business methods, Damages, Ex Parte Prosecution, Federal Circuit, inter partes review, intervening rights, Litigation, past damages, Phillips claim construction, Post Grant Review, preponderance of evidence, prior art, reexamination generallyWhen patent owners sue an accused infringer for patent infringement, one way for the accused infringer to avoid liability is to show noninfringement of the patent claims. But if the claims are extremely broad, the accused infringer may find it difficult to prove noninfringement and instead may have to rely on a showing of invalidity to avoid…
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USPTO to Host AIA Second Anniversary Forum on Sept. 16
The USPTO will host an AIA Second Anniversary Forum on September 16, 2013, at the USPTO’s Alexandria campus in the Madison Auditorium from 1 to 5 pm, and also via webcast. Here is the USPTO announcement: At the Forum, USPTO subject matter experts from the Patents Business Unit and administrative patent judges from the Patent…
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AIA Post-Grant Practice Rapidly Integrates Federal Circuit and Board Decisions
AIA post-grant practice has many advantages over other proceedings, but one of the great benefits of AIA post-grant practice that we have not discussed is the speed in which AIA post-grant proceedings adopt recent patent decisions from different sources. This is really an exciting and challenging feature of AIA post-grant practice that has become even…
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Patent Office Guidance for Examiners in wake of CLS Bank Decision: No Change for Now
On May 13, 2013, the Patent Office issued a memo to USPTO examiners after the CLS Bank et al. v. Alice Corp. Federal Circuit en banc decision of last week. The memo instructs examiners to maintain existing examination procedure for evaluating subject matter patentability. Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy, Andrew Hirshfeld, advised examiners: ”…
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Patent Challenger Seeks PTAB Jurisdiction over “Involved” Pending Applications
The AIA provides new post-issuance proceedings to challenge issued patents. But can these challenges be used to stop related pending patent prosecution dead in its tracks? One recent inter partes review petition requests just that and time will tell whether the PTAB takes control of the related applications. Chi Mei Innolux Corp. (CMI) filed a…
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More IPR Filings on Day 2
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in America Invents Act, Broadest Reasonable Interpretation standard, claim challenges, Claim Construction, covered business methods, Ex Parte Prosecution, indefiniteness, inter partes review, Litigation, Patent Reform, patent-eligible subject matter, Phillips-type construction, Post Grant Review, PTAB, statutory subject matterIf you are monitoring adoption of post-issuance filings you may have noticed that five more IPR filings were filed on the second day of operation of the PTAB trials portal pursuant to the new IPR and CBM patent review options from the America Invents Act. The list of today’s filings is reproduced below: 4 IPRs…