First Inter Partes Review & Covered Business Method Filings Headed to the USPTO

The USPTO’s Patent Trial & Appeal Board (PTAB) opens its doors for business this coming Monday. As a reminder, submissions to the PTAB will need to be filed via the Patent Review Processing System (PRPS). The web portal system will go live over the weekend, but will only accept a maximum file size of 10MB. (per single uploaded file, PAIR currently accepts 25MB). The system is designed to accept a maximum file size of 250MB, however the lower size limit appears to have been adopted for the short term to ensure that the system is not overloaded.

The USPTO’s FAQs for the PRPS have recently been expanded (here).

Today also marks the last business day to file requests for inter partes patent reexaminations, the USPTO may see as many as 50-60 such filings today alone. There is also expected to be a surge of ex parte reexamination filings before the new fee kicks in on Monday.