The Patent Trial & Appeal Board (PTAB) is hosting a Boardside Chat webinar this Thursday, April 4th from noon to 1pm(EST). The webinar will introduce new Chief Judge Scott Boalick and Deputy Chief Judge Jackie Bonilla. The judges will discuss recent precedential and informative decisions issued by
As previously discussed, the Patent Trial & Appeal Board (PTAB) is now reconsidering its issue joinder practices. These practices were the subject of significant debate internal to the Board a few years back. The inability of the Board to arrive at a majority consensus on whether issue joinder was permitted by the AIA statutes led to the now infamous “panel stacking” decisions. These expanded panel decisions provided a brute force solution to the conflicting positions on the question of issue joinder, a de facto precedent of sorts.
With the new Precedential Opinion Panel, or “POP,” allowing for a more streamlined process for making precedent, the Board seems poised to drive official PTAB precedent on this question — but in a new direction.
Continue Reading New PTAB Precedent Panel Conducts First Hearing
As I predicted a few weeks back, the Patent Trial & Appeal Board is now moving Proppant Express Investments, LLC, Proppant Express Solutions, LLC v. Oren Technologies, LLC, (IPR2018-00914) to the Precedential Opinion Panel (POP). This is the first case to be taken up by the new