Bob Stoll Reflects on Impactful Moments in IP in IPWatchdog

Washington, D.C., partner and co-chair of the Intellectual Property Group Bob Stoll was quoted in the IPWatchdog article “What Mattered in 2018: Industry Insiders Reflect on the Biggest Moments in IP.” In the article, Bob analyzes the biggest moments and key events of the past year in the intellectual property world, along with other IP industry professionals.

Bob examined recent Supreme Court cases that he believes will have long-term effects on the IP landscape. Bob began with twin decisions handed down by the Supreme Court in April 2018. The first was the Supreme Court’s holding in Oil States Energy Services v. Greene’s Energy Group that held that inter partes review (IPR) does not violate the Constitution and that IPR is a permissible review on the patents. In the second decision, SAS Institute v. Iancu, the Court held that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) cannot only review claims that it maintains meet the threshold for institution; rather, that if instituting on any claim, the PTAB must handle all of the challenged claims on all of the challenged grounds. Bob also noted the impact of the Federal Circuit’s decision in Berkheimer v. HP Inc. and the Music Modernization Act that was passed into Law in October 2018, and lauded USPTO Director Andrei Iancu’s improvements in the handling of patent subject matter eligibility and post grant procedures.