Drinker Biddle Launches Patent Trial and Appeal Board Blog
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is now the third most active patent litigation forum in the U.S., behind only the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern District of Texas and Delaware. Lawyers from Drinker Biddle’s intellectual property and litigation practices have been regularly following and studying the rules, procedures and daily decisions coming out of the PTAB – leading to the creation of the firm’s PTAB Trial Blog, www.ptabtrialblog.com.
At the time the America Invents Act was signed into law, many predicted that the new post-grant challenges that it created – Inter Partes Review, Covered Business Methods, and Post-Grant Review - would significantly alter U.S. patent practice – few could foresee just how dramatic this impact would turn out to be. Incredibly, these new post-grant challenges are now instituted so frequently that the PTAB has become one of the most popular forums for patent validity litigation within the U.S.
“It is critical for the modern patent practitioner to have mastery over all aspects of PTAB practice, whether representing patent owners, patent challengers, or both,” said John Smith, intellectual property lawyer and contributor to the blog. “At the same time, given the fast-paced nature of this new field and the sheer volume of information that comes out every day, it is challenging to stay up-to-date and absorb how these proceedings might benefit clients. Our blog is meant to help practitioners and clients by reporting on and summarizing the important PTAB-related developments as they occur.”
The blog will provide frequent updates, insightful commentary, and useful practice tips for those interested in post-grant trials before the PTAB. Among the many useful features provided by the blog is the ability to search cases based on the subject matter at issue, the parties involved, and the identity of the Administrative Patent Judges rendering each decision.
Contributors to the blog are Drinker Biddle lawyers - including a number of former USPTO patent examiners - with experience before the PTAB (including its predecessor tribunal, the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences), before the courts in patent litigation matters, and before the USPTO in matters relating to patent prosecution, reexamination, appeals and interferences.