- Apple, Inc. v. Wecrevention, Inc.Institution deniedPTAB · Jun 24, 2026 · IPR2026-00241 · APJ John A Squires · IPR · Director review
The Director denied institution of the IPR, finding Apple's unexplained inconsistent claim-construction positions before the Board and district court problematic.
RulingsDirector review decision- Other 314aInstitution denied discretionary otherDenied
“As I have indicated previously, petitioners should be presenting a single construction and applying that construction consistently. See Infineon Techs. Americas Corp. v. Mosaid Techs. Corp., IPR2025-01456, Paper 27 at 3–4 (Director Mar. 17, 2026). Failure to do so, without adequate explanation, is problematic and raises concerns of strategic litigation behavior spill-over into the PTAB inconsistent with Congress’s intent to provide a quick and cost-effective alternative to district court litigation. Id.; Revvo, Paper 20 at 3–4; see H.R. Rep. No. 112-98 at 48 (2011). Here, Petitioner offers no explanation for its divergent positions.” slip op. at 3
- Claim Construction › Threshold & procedure › Whether a term needs construction (O2 Micro)Other
“that “[a]ll claim terms should be construed according to their ordinary and customary meaning,” and that “no claim terms need be construed to resolve issues of controversy in the present Petition.” Paper 2, 4 (emphasis added). Petitioner also states, as part of its analysis of the challenged claims, that “Petitioner does not concede that the preambles of the Challenged Claims are limiting.” Id. at 9 n.5 (emphasis added). In district court, however, Petitioner tells a different story, arguing there that the preamble is limiting. Ex. 2016, 6, 7, 9, 12. Indeed, Petitioner specifically denotes that “[r]eview of ‘the entirety of the patent’ makes clear that the preamble phrase ‘high speed memory chip module’ contains the core of what the inventors ‘actually invented and intended to encompass by the claims,’ . . . and so the preamble should be limiting.” Id. at 7 (internal citations omitted, emphasis added).” slip op. at 2
Claim constructionDiscretionary denialPatents in suitUS 10,998,017 - Whoop, Inc. v. Omni Medsci, Inc.InstitutedPTAB · May 6, 2026 · PGR2026-00003 · APJ John A Squires · PGR · Director review
The Director instituted post-grant review of claim 7 of the ’790 patent under 35 U.S.C. § 324(a).
RulingsDirector review decision- PTAB / AIA Trials › Institution threshold (reasonable likelihood / more likely than not)InstitutedInstituted
“In this proceeding, Petitioner persuasively shows, on the current record, that the ’790 patent is an AIA patent. As Petitioner notes, during prosecution of the ’790 patent, Patent Owner certified that the ’790 patent application “contains, or contained at any time, a claim to a claimed invention that has an effective filing date on or after March 16, 2013.” Ex. 1002, 246; see Pet. 11–12. Patent Owner, therefore, acknowledged that the application was to be examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Id. Also, Petitioner shows, for purposes of institution, that the provisional applications to which the ’790 patent claims priority do not provide written description support for a “wearable device adapted to be placed on a wrist or a hand dorsal of a user,” such that the detection system of the wearable device has a “plurality of detectors arranged along an arc,” as recited in claim 2. Pet. 13.1 Although Patent Owner asserts that one of the provisional applications provides written description support via a figure illustrating a mouth guard design and a disclosure that “[t]he non-invasive devices may be part of a series of biosensors applied to the patient,” I do not find this persuasive based on the current record. See Paper 6, 16–17 (citing Ex. 1071, 15–16, 29, 40); Ex. 1071, 7, 29, 40. Even if the mouth guard could be considered to have detectors arranged in an arc, the mouth guard is used to “perform a non-invasive measurement for dental caries” and is not described as “adapted to be placed on a wrist or a hand dorsal of a user,” as claim 2 requires. See Ex. 1071, 7, 29, 18–19, 40.” slip op. at 3
- Disclosure Requirements (§112) › Written description (Ariad)Decided for petitioner
“record, that the ’790 patent is an AIA patent. As Petitioner notes, during prosecution of the ’790 patent, Patent Owner certified that the ’790 patent application “contains, or contained at any time, a claim to a claimed invention that has an effective filing date on or after March 16, 2013.” Ex. 1002, 246; see Pet. 11–12. Patent Owner, therefore, acknowledged that the application was to be examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Id. Also, Petitioner shows, for purposes of institution, that the provisional applications to which the ’790 patent claims priority do not provide written description support for a “wearable device adapted to be placed on a wrist or a hand dorsal of a user,” such that the detection system of the wearable device has a “plurality of detectors arranged along an arc,” as recited in claim 2. Pet. 13.1 Although Patent Owner asserts that one of the provisional applications provides written description support via a figure illustrating a mouth guard design and a disclosure that “[t]he non-invasive devices may be part of a series of biosensors applied to the patient,” I do not find this persuasive based on the current record. See Paper 6, 16–17 (citing Ex. 1071, 15–16, 29, 40); Ex. 1071, 7, 29, 40. Even if the mouth guard could be considered to have detectors arranged in an arc, the mouth guard is used to “perform a non-invasive measurement for dental caries” and is not described as “adapted to be placed on a wrist or a hand dorsal of a user,” as claim 2 requires. See Ex. 1071, 7, 29, 18–19, 40.” slip op. at 3
§ 112 disclosurePatents in suitUS 12,193,790 - PTAB · Mar 17, 2026 · IPR2025-01487 · APJ John A Squires · IPR · Director review
The Director instituted review of claims 1–21 and bound Petitioner to its district court construction of “clock output signal” for claims 4, 5, and 19.
RulingsDirector review decision- Director reviewDirector review, grantedGranted
“Accordingly, it is: ORDERED that, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 314(a), an inter partes review of claims 1–21 of the ’381 patent is instituted; FURTHER ORDERED that Petitioner shall be bound by its proposed district court construction of the term “clock output signal” in its analysis of claims 4, 5, and 19 of the ’381 patent; and” slip op. at 4
- PTAB / AIA Trials › Institution threshold (reasonable likelihood / more likely than not)InstitutedInstituted
“Accordingly, it is: ORDERED that, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 314(a), an inter partes review of claims 1–21 of the ’381 patent is instituted;” slip op. at 4
- Prior constructionTerm construed petitioner constructionDecided for patent owner
“positions in the district court that are inconsistent with those presented in the Petition and fails to sufficiently explain why those different positions are warranted. Prelim. Resp. 3–4, 9 (citing Revvo Techs., Inc. v. Cerebrum Sensor Techs., Inc., IPR2025-00632, Paper 20 (Director Nov. 3, 2025) (precedential) (“Revvo”)). In particular, Patent Owner notes that in District Court, Petitioner has proposed a construction of the term “clock output signal” in dependent claims 4, 5, and 19 as being “a periodic signal that synchronizes system operations.” Id. at 9 (quoting Ex. 2007, 12). In the Petition, however, Petitioner contends that “no claim terms require a formal construction for purposes of addressing the grounds in this Petition.” Pet. 2.” slip op. at 2
Claim constructionPatents in suitUS 9,972,381
Holdings, summaries, rulings, issues, outcomes, winners and claim constructions shown for a decision were generated by a large language model reading the opinion. They are a guide to the decision, not the decision. Confirm every one against the court's own text before relying on it. Outcomes read from the patent owner’s side. Party names are extracted from the decision and are missing on about 900 short Director denials and scans, which carry the trial number instead.