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  • PTAB · May 28, 2025 · IPR2025-00301 · APJ Bart A Gerstenblith · IPR · Institution

    The Board denied institution of review for claims 1–11, 16, and 21 under § 314(a), finding the Fintiv factors favored discretionary denial, and denied joinder.

    RulingsInstitution decision
    • PTAB / AIA Trials › Discretionary denial › Fintiv (parallel litigation)Institution denied fintivInstitution denied

      “2026. This date is nearly five months prior to the date on which the final written decision would be due if trial were instituted in this proceeding. And, even if we assume Petitioner’s alleged February–March 2026 trial date, this date too is several months prior to the projected final written decision deadline. As such, it is unlikely that a final written decision in this proceeding would issue before trial in the district court, unless the trial was delayed or rescheduled for a later time. Thus, we find this factor weighs in favor of exercising our discretion to deny institution. See ARM Ltd. v. Daedalus Prime LLC, IPR2025-00207, Paper 10 at 2 (May 16, 2025) (Before the Office of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office) (exercising discretion to deny institution with the same relative timing between district court trial and final written decision deadline).” slip op. at 13

    • PTAB / AIA Trials › Motions to amend / substitute claimsNot reached
    • PTAB / AIA Trials › Joinder §315(c) / SAS all-or-nothingJoinder, deniedDenied
    • PTAB / AIA Trials › Institution threshold (reasonable likelihood / more likely than not)Institution denied discretionary otherInstitution denied

      “presented in the petition . . . and any [preliminary] response . . . shows that there is a reasonable likelihood that the petitioner would prevail with respect to at least 1 of the claims challenged in the petition.” 35 U.S.C. § 314(a). Institution of inter partes review, however, is discretionary. See Harmonic Inc. v. Avid Tech., Inc., 815 F.3d 1356, 1367 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (“[T]he PTO is permitted, but never compelled, to institute an IPR proceeding.”). For the reasons discussed below, we exercise discretion pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 314(a) not to institute inter partes review. Additionally, for the same reasons and because institution was denied in IPR2024-01248, we deny Petitioner’s Motion for Joinder. See 35 U.S.C. § 315(c) (“[T]he Director . . . may join as a party . . . any person who properly files a petition under section 311 that the Director . . . determines warrants the institution of an inter partes review under section 314.”).” slip op. at 3

    Discretionary denial
    Patents in suitUS 9,814,071
  • PTAB · Jan 26, 2022 · IPR2020-00871 · APJ Frederick C Laney · IPR · Rehearing

    The Board denied rehearing and left in place its § 314(a) denial of institution for claims 1–68 based on the Fintiv factor analysis.

    RulingsRehearing decision
    • RehearingRehearing, deniedDenied

      “decision for an abuse of discretion. 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(c). An abuse of discretion may arise if the decision is based on an erroneous interpretation of law, if a factual finding is not supported by substantial evidence, or if an unreasonable judgment is made in weighing relevant factors. Star Fruits S.N.C. v. United States, 393 F.3d 1277, 1281 (Fed. Cir. 2005); Arnold P’ship v. Dudas, 362 F.3d 1338, 1340 (Fed. Cir. 2004); In re Gartside, 203 F.3d 1305, 1315–16 (Fed. Cir. 2000).” slip op. at 3

    • PTAB / AIA Trials › Discretionary denial › Fintiv (parallel litigation)Denied

      “the District Court held a hearing regarding venue related issues. Ex. 1044, 6:8–15. During the course of that hearing, the District Court set forth procedures that the parties should follow to address some outstanding venue related issues. Id. at 26:1–10. The District Court also stated that, after the parties followed those procedures and reported back, it would “determine whether [the Court] should leave the current schedule in place or whether [the Court] should enter some kind of a temporary stay to facilitate [additional venue-related discovery].” Id. at 26:11–16. Petitioner argues that this comment by the District Court should tip the Fintiv factor 1 in favor of institution. Reh. Req. 8–9. We disagree. Although the December 20th hearing may indicate the District Court’s willingness to consider whether “some kind of a temporary stay” should be entered to resolve the outstanding venue issues, it provides little, if any, actual evidence that the District Court would, in fact, enter a stay. Even if we were to guess that the District Court would enter a stay, we would still have to speculate further about the length of the “temporary” stay because, if it were for only a few days or weeks, it would still not avoid the concerns of inefficiency and duplicative efforts addressed by Fintiv factor 1. Regarding our alleged failure to apprehend or consider fully Petitioner’s proposed stipulation, we again do not agree. In the Decision, we specifically addressed Petitioner’s proposed stipulation and explained its shortcomings. Dec. 15–16. Although Petitioner clearly does not agree with our analysis, mere disagreement with our opinion is not a valid basis for reconsideration.” slip op. at 10

    Discretionary denial
    Patents in suitUS 9,749,829
  • PTAB · Jan 26, 2022 · IPR2020-00870 · APJ Frederick C Laney · IPR · Rehearing

    The Board denied rehearing of its decision denying institution, finding no overlooked or misapprehended facts that changed its Fintiv analysis.

    RulingsRehearing decision
    • RehearingRehearing, deniedDenied

      “decision for an abuse of discretion. 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(c). An abuse of discretion may arise if the decision is based on an erroneous interpretation of law, if a factual finding is not supported by substantial evidence, or if an unreasonable judgment is made in weighing relevant factors. Star Fruits S.N.C. v. United States, 393 F.3d 1277, 1281 (Fed. Cir. 2005); Arnold P’ship v. Dudas, 362 F.3d 1338, 1340 (Fed. Cir. 2004); In re Gartside, 203 F.3d 1305, 1315–16 (Fed. Cir. 2000). The burdens and requirements of a request for rehearing are stated in 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(d): The burden of showing a decision should be modified lies with the party challenging the decision. The request must specifically identify all matters the party believes the Board misapprehended or overlooked, and the place where each matter was previously addressed in a motion, an opposition, or a reply. admitted” in connection with a request for rehearing. Patent Trial and Appeal Board Consolidated Trial Practice Guide 90 (Nov. 2019), https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/tpgnov.pdf (“CTPG”) (citing Huawei Device Co. v. Optis Cellular Tech., LLC, IPR2018-00816, Paper 19 at 4 (PTAB Jan. 8, 2019) (precedential)). Thus, a request for rehearing is not an opportunity to present new arguments or evidence or merely to disagree with the panel’s assessment of the arguments or weighing of the evidence.” slip op. at 3

    • PTAB / AIA Trials › Discretionary denial › Fintiv (parallel litigation)Decided for patent owner

      “the District Court held a hearing regarding venue related issues. Ex. 1044, 6:8–15. During the course of that hearing, the District Court set forth procedures that the parties should follow to address some outstanding venue related issues. Id. at 26:1–10. The District Court also stated that, after the parties followed those procedures and reported back, it would “determine whether [the Court] should leave the current schedule in place or whether [the Court] should enter some kind of a temporary stay to facilitate [additional venue-related discovery].” Id. at 26:11–16. Petitioner argues that this comment by the District Court should tip the Fintiv factor 1 in favor of institution. Reh. Req. 8–9. We disagree. Although the December 20th hearing may indicate the District Court’s willingness to consider whether “some kind of a temporary stay” should be entered to resolve the outstanding venue issues, it provides little, if any, actual evidence that the District Court would, in fact, enter a stay. Even if we were to guess that the District Court would enter a stay, we would still have to speculate further about the length of the “temporary” stay because, if it were for only a few days or weeks, it would still not avoid the concerns of inefficiency and duplicative efforts addressed by Fintiv factor 1. Regarding our alleged failure to apprehend or consider fully Petitioner’s proposed stipulation, we again do not agree. In the Decision, we specifically addressed Petitioner’s proposed stipulation and explained its shortcomings. Dec. 15–16. Although Petitioner clearly does not agree with our analysis, mere disagreement with our opinion is not a valid basis for reconsideration.” slip op. at 10

    • Additional discoveryAdditional discovery, grantedAdditional discovery, deniedMixed

      “Although Petitioner did bring the District Court’s Orders to our attention in a timely manner, we are not persuaded good cause has been shown to exist for us to consider these Orders. First, the Orders are all from cases that are separate and distinct from the parallel litigation involving the parties before us. Ex. 1040, 1; Ex. 1041, 1; Ex. 1042, 1; Ex. 1043, 1. Second, each Order is limited to cases that are “set for in-person jury trials during December of 2020 and January through February of 2021.” Id. That limitation further diminishes the value of the Orders in this proceeding because the jury trial in the parties’ parallel litigation was scheduled to begin on April 5, 2021 (Ex. 2003, 1). In fact, Petitioner acknowledges that the Orders have “not yet been applied in the underlying litigation.” See Reh. matter to be speculative at best. In the Rehearing Request, Petitioner argues that Exhibits 1040–1043 provide evidence that the parallel litigation may be stayed. Reh. Req. 7. However, in addition to the fact that the Orders in those exhibits do not relate to the parties’ or their parallel litigation, none of the Orders actually stays a case, which diminishes the relevance of the Orders to the first Fintiv factor even further. Petitioner argues additionally that these Orders along with other COVID-related facts demonstrate the uncertainty of the trial date in the parties’ parallel litigation. Nevertheless, Petitioner never argued prior to our Decision that the parallel litigation was uncertain because of COVIDrelated facts. See Pet. 70–71; Pet. Reply 1–5. In other words, Petitioner is not offering this new information to support an argument that was made before the Decision was entered. Petitioner instead offers Exhibits 1040– 1043 to support a new argument introduced for the first time in the Rehearing Request, which is improper and immaterial as to any alleged errors in the Decision. Therefore, we do not find Petitioner has carried its burden of showing good cause exists to justify consideration of those exhibits to evaluate whether we erred by “overlooking or misapprehending” anything in the Decision.” slip op. at 5

    Discretionary denial
    Patents in suitUS 9,749,829
  • PTAB · Feb 19, 2021 · IPR2020-00527 · APJ Kimberly Mcgraw · IPR · Rehearing

    The Board denied Intel’s rehearing requests and left in place its § 314(a) denial of institution in both proceedings based on the Fintiv factors.

    RulingsRehearing decision
    • RehearingRehearing, deniedDenied

      “decision should be modified. 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(d). “The request must specifically identify all matters the party believes the Board misapprehended or overlooked, and the place where each matter was previously addressed in a motion, an opposition, or a reply.” Id. When rehearing a decision on a petition, we review the decision for an abuse of discretion. 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(c).” slip op. at 2

    • PTAB / AIA Trials › Discretionary denial › Fintiv (parallel litigation)Decided for patent owner

      “Petitioner has not shown that this change in circumstance warrants modifying (1) the determination that Fintiv factor 4 weighs in favor of exercising discretion to deny institution or (2) the determination, after weighing all factors and taking a holistic view of the relevant circumstances, to exercise discretion to deny institution. Several of the claims challenged in each Petition are still at issue in the parallel proceeding, and the combinations of references asserted by Petitioner in the district court largely overlap with the combinations of references asserted in the Petitions. Petitioner has not identified any differences among the claims that have been dropped and the claims that remain as a reason to modify our Decision. See Fintiv, Paper 11 at 13 (“if a petition involves the same prior art challenges but challenges claims in addition to those that are challenged in the district court, it may still be inefficient to proceed because the district court may resolve validity of enough overlapping claims to resolve key issues in the petition”).” slip op. at 5

    Discretionary denial
    Patents in suitUS 6,633,187
  • PTAB · Feb 19, 2021 · IPR2020-00526 · APJ Kimberly Mcgraw · IPR · Rehearing

    The Board denied Intel’s rehearing requests, leaving institution denied in both proceedings based on its Fintiv analysis of the parallel litigation.

    RulingsRehearing decision
    • RehearingRehearing, deniedDenied

      “II. ANALYSIS A party requesting rehearing bears the burden of showing that the decision should be modified. 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(d). “The request must specifically identify all matters the party believes the Board misapprehended or overlooked, and the place where each matter was previously addressed in a motion, an opposition, or a reply.” Id. When rehearing a decision on a petition, we review the decision for an abuse of discretion. 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(c).” slip op. at 2

    • PTAB / AIA Trials › Discretionary denial › Fintiv (parallel litigation)Decided for patent owner

      “noted that, “[e]ven if Petitioner’s contentions are true, Petitioner has not shown these contentions will avoid adjudication of Intel’s invalidity defenses” in the related Western District of Texas litigation. Dec. Inst. 13. In light of the record at the time, we found that Petitioner’s arguments in connection with Fintiv factor 6 did not weigh against exercising our discretion to deny institution. Id. at 13–15. Accordingly, we maintain our finding that Petitioner’s argument does not weigh against exercising our discretion to deny institution.” slip op. at 4

    Discretionary denial
    Patents in suitUS 6,633,187
  • PTAB · Feb 11, 2021 · IPR2020-00582 · APJ Bart A Gerstenblith · IPR · Rehearing

    The Board denied Intel’s rehearing request and maintained its discretionary denial of institution under Fintiv, despite weighing Factor 6 neutrally.

    RulingsRehearing decision
    • RehearingRehearing, deniedDenied

      “II. ANALYSIS A party requesting rehearing bears the burden of showing that the decision should be modified. 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(d). “The request must specifically identify all matters the party believes the Board misapprehended or overlooked, and the place where each matter was previously addressed in a motion, an opposition, or a reply.” Id. When rehearing a decision on a petition, we review the decision for an abuse of discretion. 37 C.F.R. § 42.71(c).” slip op. at 2

    • PTAB / AIA Trials › Discretionary denial › Fintiv (parallel litigation)Institution denied fintivInstitution denied

      “The change in circumstances regarding the trial date does not persuade us to change our decision to exercise our discretion to deny institution. Even if we were to institute an inter partes review proceeding, the deadline for issuing a final written decision could be no earlier than February 2022. Thus, at this time, it appears likely that trial will occur many months before any final written decision would likely issue in this proceeding. Therefore, we maintain our finding that Fintiv Factor 2” slip op. at 4

    Discretionary denial
    Patents in suitUS 7,292,485

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