The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Acting Director, Coke Morgan Stewart, has reinforced the 'settled expectations' doctrine in recent discretionary denial decisions. In Kahoot! AS v. Interstellar, Inc., Stewart denied an inter partes review petition involving a six-year-old patent, emphasizing that a patent's age contributes to stronger settled expectations. Stewart noted that a lack of prior assertions against a petitioner does not affect this concept, which aligns with the six-year statute of limitations for damage recovery in infringement cases. This notable application highlights a shift in how younger patents are treated under the doctrine.
Although there is no bright-line rule on when expectations become settled, in general, the longer the patent has been in force, the more settled expectations should be.
Stewart's July 31 decision marked a significant application of the 'settled expectations' doctrine to a patent only six years old, stating that it established 'strong settled expectations'.
Stewart noted that the statute of limitations for recovering damages in a patent infringement case is six years, tying this to the concept of 'settled expectations'.
Stewart clarified that the absence of prior assertions of the challenged patent does not negate the patent owner's settled expectations.
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