The Federal Circuit recently asked the government to submit an amicus brief to address “what, if any, deference should be afforded to decisions of a Patent Trial and Appeal Board Precedential Opinion Panel (‘POP’), and specifically to the POP opinion in Proppant Express Investments, LLC v. Oren Technologies, LLC, No. IPR2018-00914, Paper 38 (P.T.A.B. Mar. … Continue Reading
In Nidec Motor Corp. v. Zhongshan Broad Ocean Motor Co., 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 15923, Circuit Judge Dyk, in a concurring opinion joined by Circuit Judge Wallace, questioned “whether the practice of expanding panels where the PTO is dissatisfied with a panel’s earlier decision is the appropriate mechanism of achieving the PTO’s desire for uniformity.” … Continue Reading
In Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Merus N.V., No. 2016-1346, slip op. (Fed. Cir. July 27, 2017) (hereafter, “Slip Op.”), the Federal Circuit seems to have loosened the standards for finding a patentee culpable of inequitable conduct during patent prosecution. By affirming the district court’s finding of inequitable conduct, the court in Regeneron condones the use … Continue Reading