Under 35 U.S.C. § 315(e), inter partes review (IPR) estoppel applies to “any ground that the petitioner raised or reasonably could have raised during that inter partes review.” In 2018, the Federal Circuit held in Shaw Industries Group, Inc. v. Automated Creel Systems, Inc., 817 F.3d 1293 (Fed. Cir. 2016), that IPR estoppel does not apply to grounds where review was denied by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Later that same year, the Supreme Court held in SAS that if the PTAB institutes review, it must review all challenged claims and asserted grounds, i.e., there cannot be partial institution. SAS Inst. Inc. v. Iancu, 138 S. Ct. 1348 (2018). In the latest line of these cases, the Federal Circuit held in California Institute of Technology v. Broadcom Ltd., Nos. 2020-2222, 2021-1527, 2022 WL 333669 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 4, 2022) (original opinion) (errata), that IPR estoppel applies to all grounds that reasonably could have been asserted against the challenged claims, including grounds that were not stated in the petition.
Continue Reading Federal Circuit Confirms the Broad Reach of IPR Estoppel

On December 4, 2020, the Board designated three cases from October as precedential. Together, the rulings help understand the Board’s approach to both serial challenges to issued patents and application of 35 U.S.C. § 315’s limitations on proceedings. Two of the newly precedential decisions address the real party in interest (“RPI”) requirement and the third concerns follow-on petitions and joinder motions. See RPX Corp. v. Applications in Internet Time, LLC, IPR2015-01750, Paper 128 (P.T.A.B. Oct. 2, 2020) (“RPX”); Apple Inc. v. Uniloc 2017 LLC, IPR2020-00854, Paper 9 (P.T.A.B. Oct. 28, 2020) (“Apple v. Uniloc”); SharkNinja Operating LLC v. iRobot Corp., IPR2020-00734, Paper 11 (P.T.A.B. Oct. 6, 2020) (“SharkNinja”).Read more about these decisions below.
Continue Reading PTAB designates three precedential cases on Section 315’s time-bar and estoppel provisions

In an April 11, 2019 order, Judge Andrews of the District of Delaware ruled that a Hatch-Waxman defendant’s obviousness defenses were precluded under 35 U.S.C. § 315(e)(2) even though the barring PTAB decision issued over a year after the court had held an obviousness trial.  Novartis Pharm. Corp. v. Par Pharm., Inc., No. 14-cv-01289 (D. Del. Apr. 11, 2019), Docket No. 198.  Read on for the details.
Continue Reading Court Applies Post-Trial IPR Estoppel Where Final Judgment Didn’t Address All Obviousness Defenses