John Squires, during his Senate confirmation hearing, raised concerns about the quality of patents issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). He indicated that the issue lies not with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) invalidating patents, but with the quality of patents issued initially. Squires emphasized a need for increased utilization of front-end review mechanisms, like Post-Grant Reviews (PGRs) and prior art submissions, arguing that serial or parallel IPR petitions undermining expected patent validity should not be normal.
"Congress would not have expected multiple serial or parallel IPR petitions, filed many years down the road after expectations about a patent's validity have already been settled, to become the norm."
"The problem is not with a PTAB that is aggressively invalidating issued patents that are statutorily presumed to be valid, but rather that the problem is found on the front end, which leads to poor quality patents routinely being issued by the Office."
"Squires pledged to ensure that the 'Congressional intent and goals of the PTAB are met,' referencing the PTAB serving as a faster and cheaper alternative to district court litigation."
"He pointed to issues like the limited use of front-end mechanisms such as Post-Grant Reviews (PGRs) and third-party submissions of prior art during examination."
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