- PTAB · Oct 16, 2025 · IPR2025-00712 · APJ James A Tartal · IPR · Institution
The Board instituted inter partes review of claims 1, 3–9, 13, 17, 18, 23, 25, 26, 28, and 29 on all asserted grounds, finding a reasonable likelihood of prevailing on claim 1 over Walker.
RulingsInstitution decision- PTAB / AIA Trials › Institution threshold (reasonable likelihood / more likely than not)InstitutedInstituted
“review. 35 U.S.C. § 314(b) (2018); 37 C.F.R. § 42.4(a) (2025). An inter partes review may not be instituted “unless . . . the information presented in the petition . . . 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). Upon institution of inter partes review, the review proceeds “on all of the challenged claims and on all grounds of unpatentability asserted for each claim.” 37 C.F.R. § 42.108(a). Based on our consideration of the Petition, the Preliminary Response, and the evidence of record, we conclude that the information demonstrates a reasonable likelihood that Petitioner would prevail in showing the unpatentability of at least one of the Challenged Claims. Accordingly, we institute an inter partes review as to the Challenged Claims of the ’279 patent on all grounds asserted in the Petition.” slip op. at 2
- Novelty / Anticipation (§102) › Priority / effective filing date / continuation supportPriority date awardedOther
“application filed November 12, 2021, that asserts the benefit of a series of applications, the earliest of which was filed September 2, 2003. Ex. 1001, codes (22), (45), (60). Petitioner asserts that the Challenged Claims of the ’279 patent “are entitled to an effective filing date of no earlier than September 2, 2003,” consistent with the date of the earliest application identified by the ’279 patent.9 See Pet. 6. For purposes of our analysis on the current record, in this Decision we apply September 2, 2003, as the priority date of the Challenged Claims.” slip op. at 18
- Obviousness (§103) › Motivation to combine / reasonable expectation of successInstituted
“independent claim 1. Pet. 32–63. Petitioner relies on the testimony of Mr. Crevelt in support of its contentions with respect to claim 1. Ex. 1003 ¶¶ 234–286. Further, according to Petitioner, “[n]o findings regarding motivation to combine or reasonable expectation of success are necessary with a single reference ground,” but Walker “teaches that the features of the embodiments are options that can be combined.” Pet. 42 n.6 (citing Realtime Data, LLC v. Iancu, 912 F.3d 1368, 1372–73 (Fed. Cir. 2019). At this stage, Patent Owner does not contest Petitioner’s proffered assertions about the” slip op. at 20
§ 102 anticipation§ 103 obviousnesscites Phillips · KSR · GrahamPatents in suitUS 11,393,279 - PTAB · Oct 16, 2025 · IPR2025-00708 · APJ James A Tartal · IPR · Institution
The Board instituted IPR on all challenged claims and grounds, finding a reasonable likelihood that claims 1, 3–5, 12, 13, 18–20, 22, 24–26, 29, 42, 44–47, and 50 are unpatentable over Walker and Schneier.
RulingsInstitution decision- PTAB / AIA Trials › Institution threshold (reasonable likelihood / more likely than not)InstitutedInstituted
“We have authority to determine whether to institute an inter partes review. 35 U.S.C. § 314(b) (2018); 37 C.F.R. § 42.4(a) (2025). An inter partes review may not be instituted “unless . . . the information presented in the petition . . . 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). Upon institution of inter partes review, the review proceeds “on all of the challenged claims and on all grounds of unpatentability asserted for each claim.” 37 C.F.R. § 42.108(a). Based on our consideration of the Petition, the Preliminary Response, and the evidence of record, we conclude that the information demonstrates a reasonable likelihood that Petitioner would prevail in showing the unpatentability of at least one of the Challenged Claims. Accordingly, we institute an inter partes review as to the Challenged Claims of the ’336 patent on all grounds asserted in the Petition.” slip op. at 2
- Skill levelSkill level board ownOther
“B. Level of Ordinary Skill in the Art At this stage of the proceeding, there is no evidentiary dispute about the level of ordinary skill in the art.8 Based on the testimony of Mr. Crevelt, we determine that a person of ordinary skill in the art would have had at least a bachelor’s degree in computer science or computer engineering, with at least three years of experience in game development. Pet. 14 (citing Ex. 1003 ¶¶ 62–65). Additional experience could substitute for less education, and additional education could likewise substitute for less experience. Id. We determine that the level of ordinary skill in the art 7 Petitioner states that it is not aware of secondary considerations that affect the obviousness arguments it presents. Pet. 66. Patent Owner has not offered objective evidence of nonobviousness at this stage of the proceeding. 8 Patent Owner “disagrees with the proposed level of skill” but asserts that “under any level of skill a [person of ordinary skill in the art] would not understand the asserted Grounds to raise any unpatentability issues.” Prelim. Resp. 8. Thus, Patent Owner does not present evidence or arguments in its Preliminary Response related to the level of ordinary skill in the art. competence reflected in the ’336 patent Specification and the asserted prior art references, based on our review of the limited record.” slip op. at 11
- Claim Construction › Threshold & procedure › Whether a term needs construction (O2 Micro)No construction neededOther
“standard as would be used by a district court to construe a claim in a civil action involving the validity or infringement of a patent. 37 C.F.R. § 42.100(b). Under that standard, claim terms are given their ordinary and customary meaning, as would have been understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention, in light of the language of the claims, the specification, and the prosecution history of record. Id.; see also Phillips v. AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303, 1312–19 (Fed. Cir. 2005) (en banc); Thorner v. Sony Comput. Entm’t Am. LLC, 669 F.3d 1362, 1365–66 (Fed. Cir. 2012). “The Board is required to construe ‘only those terms . . . that are in controversy, and only to the extent necessary to resolve the controversy.’” Realtime Data, LLC v. Iancu, 912 F.3d 1368, 1375 (Fed. Cir. 2019) (alteration in original) (quoting Vivid Techs., Inc. v. Am. Sci. Eng’g, Inc., 200 F.3d 795, 803 (Fed. Cir. 1999)). Petitioner argues that it is not necessary for us to provide an express construction for any claim term because the Petition “establishes the prior art meets each claim limitation under any reasonable construction.” Pet. 14–15. Patent Owner similarly submits that we “need not construe any terms at this stage, because under any reasonable construction of the claim terms, the prior art fails to disclose or suggest the claimed features.” Prelim. Resp. 8. At this stage of the proceeding, we do not need to expressly construe any claim terms to determine whether Petitioner showed a reasonable likelihood of prevailing as to its challenge of at least one challenged claim.” slip op. at 12
- Novelty / Anticipation (§102) › Priority / effective filing date / continuation supportPriority date awardedOther
“an application filed September 20, 2010, that asserts the benefit of an application filed September 2, 2003. Ex. 1001, codes (22), (45), (54), (62). Petitioner asserts that the Challenged Claims of the ’336 patent “are entitled to an effective filing date of no earlier than September 2, 2003,” consistent with the date of the earliest application identified by the ’336 patent.9 See Pet. 7. For purposes of our analysis on the current record, in this Decision we apply September 2, 2003, as the priority date of the Challenged Claims. Walker was filed on May 1, 2003, and refers back to a provisional application filed on May 6, 2002, but Walker was not published until January 1, 2004. Ex. 1006, codes (22), (43), (60). Thus, Petitioner fails to show on the current record how, under pre–AIA 35 U.S.C. § 102(a), Walker discloses an invention that was described in a printed publication in this country before the invention thereof by the Patent Owner, because Walker was published after the applied priority date of the Challenged Claims of the’336 patent.” slip op. at 17
Claim construction§ 102 anticipation§ 103 obviousnesscites Phillips · KSR · GrahamPatents in suitUS 8,529,336 - PTAB · Oct 16, 2025 · PGR2025-00041 · APJ Justin T Arbes · PGR · Institution
The Board instituted PGR of claims 1–20 on all asserted grounds after finding claim 1 more likely than not obvious over Hendry.
RulingsInstitution decision- PTAB / AIA Trials › Institution threshold (reasonable likelihood / more likely than not)InstitutedInstituted
“a post-grant review unless the information in the petition, if unrebutted, “would demonstrate that it is more likely than not that at least 1 of the claims challenged in the petition is unpatentable.” See 37 C.F.R. § 42.4(a) (“The Board institutes the trial on behalf of the Director.”). For the reasons that follow, we institute a post-grant review as to claims 1–20 of the ’243 patent on all grounds of unpatentability asserted in the Petition.” slip op. at 2
- Skill levelSkill level petitioner adoptedDecided for petitioner
“a person of ordinary skill in the art would have had “at least a bachelor’s degree in computer science, electrical engineering, or a related field, and two years’ experience in data management or client-server systems and communications,” where “a higher education or skill level might make up for less experience, and vice-versa.” Pet. 6 (citing Ex. 1003 ¶¶ 35–39). Patent Owner did not file a Preliminary Response disputing Petitioner’s position. Based on the record presented, including our review of the ’243 patent and the types of problems and solutions described in the ’243 patent and cited prior art, we agree with Petitioner’s proposed definition of the level of ordinary skill in the art and apply it for purposes of this Decision, except that we remove the term “at least” to eliminate vagueness as to the amount of education and practical experience.” slip op. at 10
- Claim Construction › Threshold & procedure › Whether a term needs construction (O2 Micro)No construction neededOther
“any reasonable construction.” Pet. 7. Patent Owner did not file a Preliminary Response disputing Petitioner’s position. We conclude that no express interpretation of any claim term is necessary to determine whether to institute a post-grant review in this proceeding.4 See Nidec Motor Corp. v. Zhongshan Broad Ocean Motor Co., 868 F.3d 1013, 1017 (Fed. Cir. 2017) (“Because we need only construe terms ‘that are in controversy, and only to the extent necessary to resolve the controversy,’ we need not construe [a particular claim limitation] where the construction is not ‘material to the . . . dispute.’” (citation omitted) (emphasis added)). 4 The parties, however, are encouraged to address during trial (1) interpretation of the term “user profile” in the challenged claims, particularly in view of the Specification’s apparent definition of the term “profile” (see Ex. 1001, col. 14, ll. 51–55) and description of exemplary data from which a “user profile” may be generated (id. at col. 18, ll. 40–58), and (2) the scope of the various instances of the phrase “in response to” in the challenged claims. Also, if either party intends to argue a claim interpretation during trial, including what the plain and ordinary meaning of a term is, the party should do so in a clearly designated section of its briefing. See Patent Trial and Appeal Board Consolidated Trial Practice Guide (Nov. 2019), 44–49, available at https://www.uspto.gov/ TrialPracticeGuideConsolidated; O2 Micro Int’l Ltd. v. Beyond Innovation Tech. Co., 521 F.3d 1351, 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2008) (“A determination that a claim term ‘needs no construction’ or has the ‘plain and ordinary meaning’ may be inadequate when a term has more than one ‘ordinary’ meaning or when reliance on a term’s ‘ordinary’ meaning does not resolve the parties’ dispute.”).” slip op. at 11
- Obviousness (§103) › Motivation to combine / reasonable expectation of successMotivation foundInstituted
“each of its elements was, independently, known in the prior art.” KSR, 550 U.S. at 418. An obviousness determination based on a combination of references requires finding “both ‘that a skilled artisan would have been motivated to combine the teachings of the prior art references to achieve the claimed invention, and that the skilled artisan would have had a reasonable expectation of success in doing so.’” Intelligent Bio-Sys., Inc. v. Illumina Cambridge Ltd., 821 F.3d 1359, 1367–68 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (quoting Kinetic Concepts, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew, Inc., 688 F.3d 1342, 1360 (Fed. Cir. 2012)); see also KSR, 550 U.S. at 418 (for an obviousness analysis, “it can be important to identify a reason that would have prompted a person of ordinary skill in the relevant field to combine the elements in the way the claimed new invention does”). Also, “[t]hough less common, in appropriate” slip op. at 8
Claim construction§ 103 obviousnesscites KSR · GrahamPatents in suitUS 12,039,243 - PTAB · Oct 8, 2025 · IPR2025-00629 · APJ Scott C Moore · IPR · Institution
The Board instituted IPR of claims 1–20 on all asserted grounds, finding a reasonable likelihood that claim 1 is obvious over Beard and Laufer.
RulingsInstitution decision- PTAB / AIA Trials › Institution threshold (reasonable likelihood / more likely than not)InstitutedInstituted
“We may institute an inter partes review when “the information presented in the petition . . . 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). If we institute an inter partes review, the trial must encompass all claims and grounds identified in the Petition. 37 C.F.R. § 42.108(a) (“When instituting inter partes review, the Board will authorize the review to proceed on all of the challenged claims and on all grounds of unpatentability asserted for each claim.”). For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that there is a reasonable likelihood that Petitioner will prevail in establishing the unpatentability of one or more claims of the ’711 Patent. We, therefore, institute inter partes review of claims 1–20 on the grounds identified in the Petition. B.” slip op. at 2
- Skill levelSkill level petitioner adoptedDecided for petitioner
“Petitioner contends that one of ordinary skill in the art would have had the following qualifications: [E]ither (1) a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace engineering, or an equivalent field, as well as at least 2 years of academic or industry experience in the aerospace or avionics fields, or (2) at least four years of experience in any of the above industries. 1 The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (“AIA”) included revisions to 35 U.S.C. §§ 102 and 103 that became effective on March 16, 2013. Because the applications from which the ’711 Patent claims priority were all filed after this date, the post-AIA version of §103 applies. See Ex. 1001, codes (60), (63). 2 U.S. Patent No. 9,769,387 B1, iss. Sept. 19, 2017 (Ex. 1009). 3 U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2017/0059692 A1, pub. Mar. 2, 2017 (Ex. 1010). 4 U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2012/0106800 A1, pub. May 3, 2012 (Ex. 1021). 5 U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2017/0161911 A1, pub. June 8, 2017 (Ex. 1007). 6 U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2013/0301905 A1, pub. Nov. 14, 2013 (Ex. 1024). 7 U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2012/0004844 A1, pub. Jan. 5, 2012 (Ex. 1025). 8 PCT App. Pub. No. WO 2017/123477 A1, pub. July 20, 2017 (Ex. 1022). 9 U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2017/0160751 A1, pub. June 8, 2017 (Ex. 1005). Pet. 8 (citing Ex. 1003 ¶¶ 50–54). Patent Owner does not presently dispute Petitioner’s proposed formulation. See generally Prelim. Resp. For purposes of this Decision, we adopt and apply Petitioner’s formulation regarding the level of ordinary skill in the art because it is (1) consistent with the ’711 Patent and the asserted prior art; and (2) it is supported by the testimony of Dr. Singhose. B.” slip op. at 6
- Claim Construction › Intrinsic evidence (Phillips canons) › Plain and ordinary meaning to a POSITAPlain and ordinary meaningDecided for petitioner
“But the Detecting Limitations of claims 1, 19, and 20, merely require that a target be “detected.” The Detecting Limitations do not require that target detection be performed “aboard the reference UAV,” and claim 19 does not recite or require “machine learning.” Moreover, the Specification makes clear that the claims should not be limited to aspects of the disclosed embodiments, as Patent Owner proposes to do here. See, e.g., Ex. 1001, 2:56–59 (“The invention is described in connection with such embodiments, but the invention is not limited to any embodiment. The scope of the invention is limited only by the claims . . . .”) Patent Owner additionally fails to cite any lexicographic definition or clear and unambiguous disclaimer of claim scope sufficient to limit the claims in the manner it proposes. We, thus, are not persuaded that the Detecting Limitations require “applying aboard the reference UAV a machine learning model to the capture image for: (i) identifying a target in the captured image.”” slip op. at 8
- Disclosure Requirements (§112) › Written description (Ariad)Not entitled to earlier dateDecided for petitioner
“Priority Date of the Challenged Claims Petitioner contends that claims 1–20 of the ’711 Patent “should not have priority to the October 9, 2016 filing date of U.S. provisional [patent] application 62/405,972 due to a lack of written description support.” Pet. 3. Petitioner thus “assumes” a priority date of October 1, 2017 (the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/556,449) for purposes of this proceeding. Id. at n.2; see also Ex. 1003, code (60). Patent Owner does not presently dispute Petitioner’s contention that the ’711 Patent is not entitled to a priority date earlier than October 1, 2017. See generally Prelim. Resp. For purposes of this decision, we accept Petitioner’s undisputed contention that the ’711 Patent is not entitled to a priority date prior to 10 Any determination, no matter how designated in this Institution Decision (except our ultimate decision to institute), is preliminary and non-binding. Our Final Written Decision, based on a fully developed record of arguments and evidence, will state our binding determinations, findings, and conclusions. If a party disagrees with this preliminary construction, or any other determination set forth in this Institution Decision, that party should present its arguments at trial. The parties are reminded that any arguments not made during trial will be considered waived. Patent Owner is further reminded that arguments in the Preliminary Response are not preserved and will be considered waived at trial unless those arguments are re-raised in the Patent Owner Response. The parties are additionally reminded that arguments raised in subsequent briefing must be set forth in full in the briefs themselves, and may not be incorporated by reference from prior filings such as the Preliminary Response. See 37 C.F.R. § 42.6(a)(3). October 1, 2017.11 Accordingly, Petitioner has made a sufficient showing that all of the cited references qualify as prior art. See Pet. 4–6. D.” slip op. at 11
Claim construction§ 103 obviousness§ 112 disclosurecites Phillips · KSR · GrahamPatents in suitUS 10,514,711 - PTAB · Oct 8, 2025 · IPR2025-00530 · APJ Scott C Moore · IPR · Institution
Instituted review of claims 1–9 on all petition grounds after finding a reasonable likelihood that claim 1 is obvious over Whitmarsh.
RulingsInstitution decision- PTAB / AIA Trials › Institution threshold (reasonable likelihood / more likely than not)InstitutedInstituted
“presented in the petition . . . 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). If we institute an inter partes review, the trial must encompass all claims and grounds identified in the Petition. 37 C.F.R. § 42.108(a) (“When instituting inter partes review, the Board will authorize the review to proceed on all of the challenged claims and on all grounds of unpatentability asserted for each claim.”). For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that there is a reasonable likelihood that Petitioner will prevail in establishing the unpatentability of at least one of the challenged claims. We, therefore, institute inter partes review of claims 1–9 on the grounds asserted in the Petition. B.” slip op. at 2
- Claim Construction › Functional claiming / §112(f) means-plus-function › Whether §112(f) applies (Williamson, nonce words)§112(f) appliesDecided for petitioner
“permission module,” as used in claim 1, has “a well understood structural meaning in the computer technology field.” 792 F.3d at 1350. Rather, the limitation in question is “drafted in the same format as a traditional means-plus-function limitation, and merely replaces the term ‘means’ with ‘nonce’ word ‘module,’ thereby connoting a generic ‘black box’ for performing the recited computer-implemented functions.” Id. And, while claim 1 recites the “outputs” of the permission module (i.e., a determination regarding the permissions of an aerial system), “the claim does not describe how the [permission module] interacts with other components in the [discrimination system] in a way that might inform the structural character of the limitation- in-question or otherwise impart structure to the [permission module] as recited in the claim.” Id. at 1351. We also reviewed the Specification, and we agree with Petitioner that the Specification identifies the following structure as corresponding to the claimed permission module: “storage on-board the disruption module 105, storage on-board the identification receiver 102, a remote computing system connected to the disruption module…, or [] any other suitable computing system.” See Pet. 12; Ex. 1001, 9:64–10:4. slip op. at 7
- Obviousness (§103) › Graham factors (scope of art, differences, level of skill)UnpatentableInstituted
“from nearby UAVs wireless communications that include information or signatures unique to the UAVs, such as a MAC [media access control] address of the UAV, that is used to identify the transmitting UAV.” Pet. 16– 18 (citing Ex. 1005 ¶¶ 20, 27; Ex. 1006 ¶¶ 8, 10, 13, 15–17; Ex. 1003 ¶¶ 117–118). For example, Petitioner cites Whitmarsh’s teachings that “[a]ll drones have a unique identifier, such as a media access control (MAC) address, that can be determined or read by the DDS [drone defense system] and can be used to identify the drone.” Id. at 16 (quoting Ex. 1006 ¶ 13). Based on these teachings, Petitioner submits that the signal received from the UAVs includes an aerial system identifier signal unique to the aerial system. Id. at 17–18 (citing Ex. 1005 ¶ 27; Ex. 1006 ¶ 13).” slip op. at 10
Claim construction§ 103 obviousnesscites Phillips · GrahamPatents in suitUS 10,249,199 - PTAB · Oct 8, 2025 · IPR2025-00525 · APJ Scott C Moore · IPR · Institution
The Board instituted review of claim 21 on all asserted grounds after finding a reasonable likelihood it is obvious over Beard.
RulingsInstitution decision- PTAB / AIA Trials › Institution threshold (reasonable likelihood / more likely than not)InstitutedInstituted
“presented in the petition . . . 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). If we institute an inter partes review, the trial must encompass all claims and grounds identified in the Petition. 37 C.F.R. § 42.108(a) (“When instituting inter partes review, the Board will authorize the review to proceed on all of the challenged claims and on all grounds of unpatentability asserted for each claim.”). For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that there is a reasonable likelihood that Petitioner will prevail in establishing the unpatentability of claim 21, the sole challenged claim. We, therefore, institute inter partes review of claim 21 on the grounds asserted in the Petition. B.” slip op. at 2
- Skill levelSkill level petitioner adoptedDecided for petitioner
“[E]ither (1) a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace engineering, or an equivalent field, as well as at least 2 years of academic or industry experience in the aerospace, avionics, telecommunications, or electronic device manufacturing industry, or (2) at least four years of industry experience in any of the above industries. Pet. 21 (citing Ex. 1003 ¶ 47). Patent Owner does not presently dispute Petitioner’s proposed formulation. See generally Prelim. Resp. For 3 U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. US 2016/0253907 A1, published Sept. 1, 2016 (Ex. 1010). 4 PCT Pub. No. WO 2016/078093 A1, published May 26, 2016 (Ex. 1011). 5 PCT Pub. No. WO 2016/154949 A1, published Oct. 6, 2016 (Ex. 1012). 6 U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. US 2016/0127890 A1, published May 5, 2016 (Ex. 1013). 7 PCT Pub. No. WO 2015/043123 A1, published Apr. 2, 2015 (Ex. 1014). purposes of this Decision, we adopt and apply Petitioner’s formulation regarding the level of ordinary skill in the art because it is (1) consistent with the ’959 Patent and the asserted prior art; and (2) it is supported by the testimony of Dr. Chowdhary. B.” slip op. at 5
- Claim Construction › Intrinsic evidence (Phillips canons) › Plain and ordinary meaning to a POSITATerm construed board ownDecided for patent owner
“But before describing the embodiments cited by Patent Owner, the Specification plainly states: “Any terms not expressly defined herein have their conventional meaning as commonly understood by those having skill in the relevant art(s).” Ex. 1001, 4:64–67. Thus, the Specification itself cautions against construing the claim terms such as “secure identifier” as limited to the scope of the disclosed embodiments. Here, Patent Owner has not cited any express definition of “secure identifier,” or identified any explicit disclaimer of claim scope that might justify narrowing the scope of this claim term to specific embodiments disclosed in the Specification. In the absence of such a definition or disclaimer, we are not persuaded that the scope of the claim term “secure identifier” should be limited to specific aspects of the preferred embodiments cited by Patent Owner. See Prelim. Resp. 7–14. On this record, and at this stage of the proceeding, we decline to adopt Patent Owner’s proposed construction and preliminarily construe “secure identifier” as “a credential that can be used to securely verify the identity of a device, such as an airborne object or ground-based transmitter.”8” slip op. at 10
- Disclosure Requirements (§112) › Written description (Ariad)Written description inadequateNot entitled to earlier dateDecided for petitioner
“’071 Application lack adequate written description support for the “secure identifier” claim limitation. For a patent claim to be entitled to the priority date of an earlier-filed application, the earlier application must provide complete written description support for the claim as required by 35 U.S.C. § 112(a). L.A. Biomedical Rsch. Inst. at Harbor-UCLA Med. Ctr. v. Eli Lilly & Co., 849 F.3d 1049, 1057 (Fed. Cir. 2017) (“L.A. Biomed”). To satisfy this requirement, the written description must “reasonably convey” to a person of ordinary skill in the art that the inventor had possession on the claimed priority date of each limitation of the later-claimed subject matter. L.A. Biomed, 849 F.3d at 1057. It is not enough that an earlier application’s disclosure “renders the later-claimed invention obvious;” as “the disclosure must describe the claimed invention with all its limitations.” L.A. Biomed, 849 F.3d at 1057. On this record, we agree with Petitioner that the ’153 Provisional and ’071 Application lack adequate written description support for the “secure identifier” limitation of claim 21. We have preliminarily construed “secure identifier” as “a credential that can be used to securely verify the identity of a device, such as an airborne object or ground-based transmitter.” See supra § II.B. As discussed above, the Specification of the ’959 Patent does not use the term “secure identifier,” but the Specification contains extensive discussion of the need for an identification credential that is secure (e.g., difficult for a bad actor to clone or impersonate). See, e.g., Ex. 1001, 1:56– 65 (discussing the need for a system that is difficult to “clone”), 10:20–49 (discussing the need “trust” between a drone and ground-based equipment, and the need for a way to verifying the drone’s credentials), 11:5–12:62 (disclosing the use of encryption and a rotating SSID to generate a secure identifier for a drone). None of the portions of the Specification cited above is present in the ’153 Provisional or the ’071 Application. See generally Ex. 1006, 1007. The ’153 Provisional and ’071 Application discuss the need for identifiers for low-altitude aircraft (see, e.g., Ex. 1006, 2; Ex. 1007, 9), but there is no discussion of any need for an identification credential to be secure or resistant to cloning or impersonation. See generally Ex. 1006, 1007. The ’153 Provisional and ’071 Application do not disclose the use of encryption, SSIDs (much less rotating SSIDs), or any other technologies for the purpose of verifying the authenticity of an identification credential. See generally id. Based on our review of the ’153 Provisional and ’071 Application, we preliminarily conclude that neither of these applications would have reasonably conveyed to a person of ordinary skill in the art that the inventor then had possession of the concept of the “secure identifier” that was later claimed in the ’959 Patent.” slip op. at 12
Claim construction§ 103 obviousness§ 112 disclosurecites Phillips · GrahamPatents in suitUS 10,713,959 - Aroma360, LLC v. Air Esscentials, Inc.InstitutedPTAB · Oct 8, 2025 · IPR2025-00705 · APJ Eric C Jeschke · IPR · Institution
The Board instituted IPR on claims 7–9 and 11 on all asserted grounds after finding a reasonable likelihood of prevailing on at least one claim.
RulingsInstitution decision- PTAB / AIA Trials › Institution threshold (reasonable likelihood / more likely than not)InstitutedInstituted
“review. See 35 U.S.C. § 314; 37 C.F.R. § 42.4(a) (2024) (“The Board institutes the trial on behalf of the Director.”). Inter partes review may not be instituted “unless . . . the information presented in the petition . . . 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. Upon consideration of the evidence and arguments in the record, for the reasons below, we determine that the information presented shows a reasonable likelihood that Petitioner would prevail with respect to at least one of the challenged claims. We thus institute inter partes review on all challenged claims on all asserted grounds. See SAS Inst. Inc. v. Iancu, 584” slip op. at 2
- Skill levelSkill level petitioner adoptedDecided for petitioner
“(1) a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, chemical engineering, or a similar engineering field, with at least two years of work experience in fluid dynamics or fluid systems engineering; or (2) a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, chemical engineering, or a similar engineering field, with at least one year of work experience in fluid dynamics or fluid systems engineering.” slip op. at 8
- Claim Construction › Threshold & procedure › Whether a term needs construction (O2 Micro)No construction neededOther
“same claim construction standard that would be used in a civil action under 35 U.S.C. § 282(b), as described in Phillips v. AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303 (Fed. Cir. 2005) (en banc). See 37 C.F.R. § 42.100(b). Under that standard, we generally give claim terms their ordinary and customary meaning, as would be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention, in light of the language of the claims, the specification, and the prosecution history. See Phillips, 415 F.3d at 1313–14. Although extrinsic evidence, when available, may also be useful when construing claim terms under this standard, extrinsic evidence should be considered in the context of the intrinsic evidence. See id. at 1317–19.” slip op. at 8
- Obviousness (§103) › Motivation to combine / reasonable expectation of successNot reached
“Although a final conclusion of obviousness must be supported by findings and analysis establishing a reason to combine or modify the known elements as proposed, the analysis “need not seek out precise teachings directed to the specific subject matter of the challenged claim, for a court can take account of the inferences and creative steps that a person of ordinary skill in the art would employ.” KSR Int’l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 418 (2007). Patent Owner also argues that Petitioner “fails to explain how Zeng’s noise reduction head 20 and inner cover 30, designed for a different atomizer configuration, could be integrated into Sevy’s system without changing the principles of Sevy’s operation.” Prelim. Resp. 13–14; see also id. at 16 (arguing that “Zeng’s components are not mere drop-in replacements”). Although the relied-upon structures from Zeng are, of course, disclosed in that reference as part of another atomizer, “[t]he test for obviousness is not whether the features of a secondary reference may be bodily incorporated into the structure of the primary reference.” In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 425 (CCPA 1981). “Rather, the test is what the combined teachings of the references would have suggested to those of ordinary skill in the art.” Id. As to the alleged change in the principle of operation, Patent Owner has not adequately explained why Sevy’s principle of operation would change with the proposed combination, which replaces Sevy’s alleged “silencer assembly” with similar teachings of Zeng.” slip op. at 27
Claim construction§ 103 obviousnesscites PhillipsPatents in suitUS 9,527,094 - Aroma360, LLC v. Air Esscentials, Inc.InstitutedPTAB · Oct 8, 2025 · IPR2025-00706 · APJ Eric C Jeschke · IPR · Institution
The Board instituted inter partes review of claims 1, 4, and 7–10 on all asserted grounds, finding a reasonable likelihood of prevailing on at least one challenged claim.
RulingsInstitution decision- PTAB / AIA Trials › Institution threshold (reasonable likelihood / more likely than not)InstitutedInstituted
“review. See 35 U.S.C. § 314; 37 C.F.R. § 42.4(a) (2024) (“The Board institutes the trial on behalf of the Director.”). Inter partes review may not be instituted “unless . . . the information presented in the petition . . . 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. Upon consideration of the evidence and arguments in the record, for the reasons below, we determine that the information presented shows a reasonable likelihood that Petitioner would prevail with respect to at least one of the challenged claims. We thus institute inter partes review on all challenged claims on all asserted grounds. See SAS Inst. Inc. v. Iancu, 584 U.S. 357, 362–63, 369–70 (2018); 37 C.F.R. § 42.108(a) (“When instituting inter partes review, the Board will authorize the review to proceed on all of the challenged claims and on all grounds of unpatentability asserted for each claim.”).” slip op. at 2
- Skill levelSkill level petitioner adoptedDecided for petitioner
“we view the prior art and the claimed invention. Okajima v. Bourdeau, 261 F.3d 1350, 1355 (Fed. Cir. 2001). The person of ordinary skill in the art is a hypothetical person presumed to have known the relevant prior art. In re GPAC Inc., 57 F.3d 1573, 1579 (Fed. Cir. 1995). In determining the level of ordinary skill in the art, we may consider certain factors, including the “type of problems encountered in the art; prior art solutions to those problems; rapidity with which innovations are made; sophistication of the technology; and educational level of active workers in the field.” Id. (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).” slip op. at 7
- Claim Construction › Threshold & procedure › Whether a term needs construction (O2 Micro)No construction neededOther
“same claim construction standard that would be used in a civil action under 35 U.S.C. § 282(b), as described in Phillips v. AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303 (Fed. Cir. 2005) (en banc). See 37 C.F.R. § 42.100(b). Under that standard, we generally give claim terms their ordinary and customary meaning, as would be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention, in light of the language of the claims, the specification, and the prosecution history. See Phillips, 415 F.3d at 1313–14. Although extrinsic evidence, when available, may also be useful when construing claim terms under this standard, extrinsic evidence should be considered in the context of the intrinsic evidence. See id. at 1317–19. Neither Petitioner nor Patent Owner propose explicit constructions for any claim terms. Pet. 12–13; see generally Prelim. Resp. At this stage of the proceeding and based on the current record, we need not construe explicitly any claim terms because doing so would not change the outcome of the analysis below. See Realtime Data, LLC v. Iancu, 912 F.3d 1368, 1375 (Fed. Cir. 2019) (“The Board is required to construe ‘only those terms . . . that are in controversy, and only to the extent necessary to resolve the controversy.’” (quoting Vivid Techs., Inc. v. Am. Sci. & Eng’g, Inc., 200 F.3d 795, 803 (Fed. Cir. 1999)).” slip op. at 8
- Obviousness (§103) › Graham factors (scope of art, differences, level of skill)Motivation foundInstituted
“On the current record, this argument does not identify a deficiency in Petitioner’s position as to clauses 1C and 1D. Patent Owner implies that the structures recited in clauses 1C and 1D require functionality recited elsewhere in the claim—namely, forming a “fluid dispersion” (Prelim. Resp. 4)—but Patent Owner does not adequately present evidence supporting this implied claim construction. See In re Self, 671 F.2d 1344, 1348 (CCPA 1982) (rejecting arguments “not based on limitations appearing in the claims”). Instead, Patent Owner cites to the entirety of claim 1 in support of these implied functional requirements. See Prelim. Resp. 4. Stated differently, Patent Owner has not adequately explained why any particular component (or collection of components) must perform the function of forming the “fluid dispersion” recited in clause 1G. Moreover, even assuming as correct Patent Owner’s assertion that Sevy “requires downstream separation,” Patent Owner has not explained why such a 8 In its Preliminary Response, Patent Owner appears to use different terms for the same concept: “downstream separation”; “post-formation correction”; and “post-atomization correction.” See, e.g., Prelim. Resp. 3 (“downstream separation”), 4 (“post-formation correction”), 5–6 (“post-atomization correction”). In any response, Patent Owner should clarify the scope of these terms. requirement would fall outside of the scope of claim 1. See Elbit Sys. of Am., LLC v. Thales Visionix, Inc., 881 F.3d 1354, 1359 (Fed. Cir. 2018) (“‘[A]ttorney argument is not evidence’ and cannot rebut other admitted evidence.” (quoting Icon Health & Fitness, Inc. v. Strava, Inc., 849 F.3d 1034, 1043 (Fed. Cir. 2017))). On the current record, we determine that Petitioner has made a sufficient showing that Sevy discloses or suggests the structures recited in clauses 1C and 1D.” slip op. at 14
Claim construction§ 102 anticipation§ 103 obviousnesscites PhillipsPatents in suitUS 10,583,449 - Aroma360, LLC v. Air Esscentials, Inc.InstitutedPTAB · Oct 8, 2025 · IPR2025-00707 · APJ Eric C Jeschke · IPR · Institution
Instituted inter partes review of claims 1 and 3–8 on all asserted grounds after finding a reasonable likelihood of prevailing on at least one challenged claim.
RulingsInstitution decision- PTAB / AIA Trials › Institution threshold (reasonable likelihood / more likely than not)InstitutedInstituted
“review. See 35 U.S.C. § 314; 37 C.F.R. § 42.4(a) (2024) (“The Board institutes the trial on behalf of the Director.”). Inter partes review may not be instituted “unless . . . the information presented in the petition . . . 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. Upon consideration of the evidence and arguments in the record, for the reasons below, we determine that the information presented shows a reasonable likelihood that Petitioner would prevail with respect to at least 1 As Paper 7 in this proceeding, Patent Owner mistakenly filed the Preliminary Response in a related proceeding. one of the challenged claims. We thus institute inter partes review on all challenged claims on all asserted grounds. See SAS Inst. Inc. v. Iancu, 584 U.S. 357, 362–63, 369–70 (2018); 37 C.F.R. § 42.108(a) (“When instituting inter partes review, the Board will authorize the review to proceed on all of the challenged claims and on all grounds of unpatentability asserted for each claim.”).” slip op. at 2
- Skill levelSkill level petitioner adoptedDecided for petitioner
“Patent Owner does not dispute Petitioner’s proposed definition of the level of ordinary skill in the art, which appears generally consistent with the record at this stage of the proceeding, including the prior art. See GPAC Inc., 57 F.3d at 1579. We remove the phrase “at least” in both listed options, however, as that phrase adds ambiguity. Patent Owner does not argue at this stage of the proceedings that Petitioner’s proposal for the level of ordinary skill leads to an improper understanding of how a skilled artisan would understand either the challenged patent or the prior art. For purposes of this Decision, we adopt the definition of the level of ordinary skill in the art proposed by Petitioner, as revised above.” slip op. at 8
- Claim Construction › Threshold & procedure › Whether a term needs construction (O2 Micro)No construction neededOther
“Neither Petitioner nor Patent Owner propose constructions for any claim terms. Pet. 16–17; see generally Prelim. Resp. At this stage of the proceeding and based on the current record, we need not construe explicitly any claim terms because doing so would not change the outcome of the analysis below. See Realtime Data, LLC v. Iancu, 912 F.3d 1368, 1375 (Fed. Cir. 2019) (“The Board is required to construe ‘only those terms . . . that are in controversy, and only to the extent necessary to resolve the controversy.’” (quoting Vivid Techs., Inc. v. Am. Sci. & Eng’g, Inc., 200 F.3d 795, 803 (Fed. Cir. 1999)).” slip op. at 9
- Obviousness (§103) › Analogous artNot reached
“At this stage of the proceeding, the record on the analogous art issue is incomplete. Petitioner seems to take the position that Kaiser is in the same “field” (Pet. 47), but Petitioner does not fully address the issue of analogous art. Although Petitioner was not required to anticipate this argument with its initial filing (see Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH v. Mylan Pharma., Inc., 66 F.4th 1373, 1379 (Fed. Cir. 2023)), Petitioner may wish to address this issue as appropriate in future briefing. We will consider the full record on this issue, if necessary, as part of our analysis in any final written decision. On the current record and in view of our decision to institute based on other grounds, we reach no conclusion as to whether Petitioner has made a sufficient showing that one of ordinary skill in the art would have combined Goubet and Kaiser as proposed.” slip op. at 23
Claim construction§ 102 anticipation§ 103 obviousness§ 112 disclosurecites PhillipsPatents in suitUS 10,092,918 - PTAB · Oct 6, 2025 · IPR2025-00438 · APJ Lilan Ren · IPR · Institution
The Board instituted IPR on claims 1–5, 7–13, and 16–20 and all asserted grounds after finding a reasonable likelihood of prevailing on at least one challenged claim.
RulingsInstitution decision- PTAB / AIA Trials › Institution threshold (reasonable likelihood / more likely than not)InstitutedInstituted
“review. See 35 U.S.C. § 314 (2024); 37 C.F.R. § 42.4(a) (2024). Institution of an inter partes review requires that “the information presented in the petition . . . and any 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). For the reasons set forth below, we determine that there is a reasonable likelihood that Petitioner will prevail with respect to at least one challenged claim, and we institute an inter partes review.1” slip op. at 2
- Skill levelSkill level petitioner adoptedDecided for petitioner
“Patent Owner contends that an ordinarily skilled artisan “would have had a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or a comparable field and at least two years of experience related to 3D printing, with additional experience potentially being a substitute for a formal degree or training (and vice versa).” Prelim. Resp. 11–12. For purposes of this decision, we adopt Petitioner’s definition of the level of ordinary skill in the art as it appears unopposed and consistent with the disclosures of the ’466 patent and the prior art of record. See Okajima v. Bourdeau, 261 F.3d 1350, 1355 (Fed. Cir. 2001). C. Claim Construction” slip op. at 12
- Claim Construction › Threshold & procedure › Whether a term needs construction (O2 Micro)No construction neededOther
“standard as would be used by a district court to construe a claim in a civil action involving the validity or infringement of a patent. 37 C.F.R. § 42.100(b). Under that standard, claim terms are given their ordinary and customary meaning, as would have been understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention, in light of the language of the claims, the specification, and the prosecution history of record. Id.; Phillips v. AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303, 1312–19 (Fed. Cir. 2005) (en banc); Thorner v. Sony Comput. Entm’t Am. LLC, 669 F.3d 1362, 1365–66 (Fed. Cir. 2012). “The Board is required to construe ‘only those terms . . . that are in controversy, and only to the extent necessary to resolve the controversy.’” Realtime Data, LLC v. Iancu, 912 F.3d 1368, 1375 (Fed. Cir. 2019) (quoting Vivid Techs., Inc. v. Am. Sci. Eng’g, Inc., 200 F.3d 795, 803 (Fed. Cir. 1999)). At this stage of the proceeding, neither party contends that any formal claim construction is necessary. See Pet. 6 (“Petitioner submits that no claim terms require a formal construction for purposes of evaluating the prior art and resolving issues this proceeding.”); Prelim. Resp. 12 (“For the purposes of this Preliminary Response, Patent Owner submits that the Board does not need to construe any claim terms in any particular way to conclude that the Petition is deficient and thus institution of review is not warranted.”). After reviewing the parties’ respective arguments and the evidence currently before us, however, we determine that we do not need to expressly construe any claim term to resolve any controversy at this stage of the proceeding. D. Alleged Obviousness Over Loughran and Dubois (Ground 1A)” slip op. at 12
- Obviousness (§103) › Motivation to combine / reasonable expectation of successMotivation foundReasonable expectation foundInstituted
“The record before us supports Petitioner’s contention that the combining Loughran and Dubois is no more than a “combination of familiar elements according to known methods . . . [which] does no more than yield predictable results.” Compare Pet. 12, with Prelim. Resp. 19–23 (disputing some of Petitioner’s reasons to combine without addressing Petitioner’s reasoning based on KSR); see KSR, 550 U.S. at 416. By contrast, Patent Owner’s contentions relating to the alleged motivation to combine teachings of Loughran and Dubois lack evidentiary support. Based on our review and consideration of the current record, we are persuaded that Petitioner has adequately shown for purposes of institution that there is sufficient rationale to combine as well as a reasonable expectation of success in combining the teachings of Loughran and Dubois in the manner suggested.” slip op. at 17
Claim construction§ 103 obviousnesscites Phillips · KSR · GrahamPatents in suitUS 10,569,466
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.