Different Filing Dates Accorded to Petitions Filed on the Same Day

One of the more annoying aspects of PTAB practice is the variability in the agency’s issuance of Filing Date Notices.  In some cases, the Notice — an agency paralegal function — can come within a week or two of filing a petition (as it should), while in others, weeks later.  Since a Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response is due three months from the date of the Notice, different dates across related petitions can create a problematic misalignment in schedules.

Last week, the Federal Circuit considered whether 315(e)(1) estoppel can terminate one of two petitions filed on the same day, where one is decided earlier than the other as a simple result of a difference in schedules.
Continue Reading PTAB Paralegal Delay Dooms Parallel Petition