"Congress made clear in enacting the AIA that the PTAB should not be used 'for harassment or a means to prevent market entry through repeated litigation and administrative attacks.'"
"The NPRM modifies the rules of practice for inter partes reviews (IPRs) before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), with the stated goal being "to focus inter partes review proceedings on patent claims that have not previously been challenged in litigation or where prior litigation was resolved at an early stage.""
"The NPRM noted that "hindsight bias" and the fact that "reasonable minds may, and frequently do, disagree about whether a particular patent claim meets the statutory requirements" result in even very strong patents being at risk of invalidation throughout their lifetime when there is an ability to challenge them repeatedly in different forums."
USPTO proposed rule changes aim to narrow inter partes review (IPR) practice before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) to focus on claims not previously litigated or where litigation ended early. The Office received 10,783 comments and published 751 of them. The proposal coincided with withdrawal of a 2024 NPRM that would have codified changes on serial and parallel petitions, briefing on discretionary denial, termination and settlement, and discretionary-denial factors. The proposal emphasizes protecting strong "born-strong" patents and quiet title, citing concerns that hindsight bias and reasonable disagreement risk rendering even very strong patents unreliable through repeated challenges.
Read at IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law
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