Housekeeping Changes & Controlling “Pile On” Petitions

Tomorrow’s Federal Register will notice a second update to the America Invents Acts (AIA) Trial Practice Guide (here).  As practitioners know, this Guide provides additional guidance to practitioners concerning trial practice before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). (The first update came in August of 2018 (here))

The 2019 update mostly revises sections of the Guide that have been outdated since the initial 2012 printing.  For example, the Guide is revised to address:

As noted above, there is a new procedure to combat “pile on” petitions, but aside, from that the changes are simple updates in view of past developments.