Here is a report on recent news and commentary related to the Federal Circuit and its cases. Today we highlight:
- an article discussing how the Federal Circuit “recently clarified what prior art may be part of a ‘ground’ in an [inter partes review] and therefore subject to IPR estoppel”;
- a blog post on analyzing “several dozen new discretionary denials” issued by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Acting Director Coke Morgan Stewart last week;
- a piece discussing the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s new “[i]nterim processes for [Patent Trial and Appeal Board] Workload Management”; and
- an article reporting on how Radian Memory Systems LLC “withdrew its injunction motion seeking to block certain Samsung Electronics Co. products several weeks after the Trump administration filed a rare statement of interest in the case.”
David McCombs and Jonathan Bowser wrote an article picked up by Reuters discussing how the Federal Circuit “recently clarified what prior art may be part of a ‘ground’ in an [inter partes review] and therefore subject to IPR estoppel.” According to McCombs and Bowser, “the Federal Circuit resolved a split among district courts . . . over whether IPR estoppel includes ‘system prior art.'” McCombs and Bowser suggested the Federal Circuit’s clarification “that IPR estoppel does not include system prior art preserves important invalidity defenses in district court based on system prior art.”
Dennis Crouch posted a blog post on PatentlyO analyzing “several dozen new discretionary denials” issued by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Acting Director Coke Morgan Stewart last week. According to Crouch, “most notable among recent decisions is the Director’s increasing reliance on the concept of ‘settled expectations.'” Crouch also highlighted how, “[d]espite the emerging prominence of ‘settled expectations,’ traditional Fintiv factors . . . continue to heavily influence discretionary decisions.”
Kyle Auteri penned a piece picked up by Lexology discussing the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s new “[i]nterim processes for [Patent Trial and Appeal Board] Workload Management.” Auteri explains these interim processes include “bifurcated decisions on whether to institute an IPR or [post grant review] between (i) discretionary considerations and (ii) merits and other non-discretionary statutory considerations.”
Michael Shapiro authored an article for Bloomberg Law reporting on how Radian Memory Systems LLC “withdrew its injunction motion seeking to block certain Samsung Electronics Co. products several weeks after the Trump administration filed a rare statement of interest in the case.” According to Shapiro, Radian “said it was choosing to pull the motion based on new sworn testimony it received from Samsung.”