- Apple Inc. v. Ald Social, LLCAdverse judgmentPTAB · Jul 23, 2024 · IPR2023-01399 · APJ Barbara A Benoit · IPR · Adverse judgment
The Board entered adverse judgment against ALD Social, LLC on claims 1–16 of the ’158 patent and terminated IPR2023-01399 after finding Patent Owner unequivocally abandoned the contest.
RulingsAdverse judgment- Adverse judgmentAdverse judgmentGranted
“judgment against itself at any time during a proceeding, and abandonment of the contest is construed by the Board to be a request for adverse judgment. See IPR2023-01398, Paper 8, 3 (citing 37 C.F.R. § 42.73(b)); IPR2023-01399, Paper 7, 3 (citing 37 C.F.R. § 42.73(b)). Our orders also stated: Under the specific circumstances of this case, we determine Patent Owner’s failure to file long-overdue mandatory notices required by 37 C.F.R. § 42.8(a)(2) to demonstrate Patent Owner’s abandonment of the contest. Under 37 C.F.R. § 42.5(c), in the particular circumstances of this case, and in the interests of justice, we set a deadline for Patent Owner to file mandatory notices pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 42.8(a)(2) no later than June 10, 2024. IPR2023-01398, Paper 8, 4 (emphasis in original); IPR2023-01399, Paper 7, 4 (emphasis in original). Our orders further explained that we “would view, in the particular circumstances of this case, Patent Owner’s filing of mandatory notices by the deadline as an indication that Patent Owner had not abandoned the contest.” IPR2023-01398, Paper 8, 4; IPR2023-01399, Paper 7, 4.” slip op. at 5
NonePatents in suitUS 9,402,158 - Apple Inc. v. Ald Social, LLCAdverse judgmentPTAB · Jul 23, 2024 · IPR2023-01398 · APJ Barbara A Benoit · IPR · Adverse judgment
The Board entered adverse judgment against ALD Social, LLC on claims 1–14 of the ’054 patent and terminated IPR2023-01398 after finding unequivocal abandonment.
RulingsAdverse judgment- Adverse judgmentAdverse judgmentGranted
“judgment against itself at any time during a proceeding, and abandonment of the contest is construed by the Board to be a request for adverse judgment. See IPR2023-01398, Paper 8, 3 (citing 37 C.F.R. § 42.73(b)); IPR2023-01399, Paper 7, 3 (citing 37 C.F.R. § 42.73(b)). Our orders also stated: Under the specific circumstances of this case, we determine Patent Owner’s failure to file long-overdue mandatory notices required by 37 C.F.R. § 42.8(a)(2) to demonstrate Patent Owner’s abandonment of the contest. Under 37 C.F.R. § 42.5(c), in the particular circumstances of this case, and in the interests of justice, we set a deadline for Patent Owner to file mandatory notices pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 42.8(a)(2) no later than June 10, 2024. IPR2023-01398, Paper 8, 4 (emphasis in original); IPR2023-01399, Paper 7, 4 (emphasis in original). Our orders further explained that we “would view, in the particular circumstances of this case, Patent Owner’s filing of mandatory notices by the deadline as an indication that Patent Owner had not abandoned the contest.” IPR2023-01398, Paper 8, 4; IPR2023-01399, Paper 7, 4.” slip op. at 5
NonePatents in suitUS 9,198,054 - BMW Of North America, LLC / Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC v. Michigan Motor Technologies, LLCAdverse judgmentPTAB · Jun 12, 2024 · IPR2023-01032 · APJ Scott B Howard · IPR · Adverse judgment
The Board denied Patent Owner’s motion to terminate and entered adverse judgment against Patent Owner on claims 1–7 because it disclaimed all claims in the trial.
RulingsAdverse judgment- Adverse judgmentAdverse judgmentGranted
“unobjected to. See Mot. 1 (Patent Owner not objecting to entry of adverse judgment); Opp. 2 (Petitioner not opposing entry of adverse judgment). The Board construes an action cancelling or disclaiming claims such that no challenged claims remain in the trial as a request for adverse judgment. 37 C.F.R. § 42.73(b)(2) (“Actions construed to be a request for adverse judgment include: . . . [c]ancellation or disclaimer of a claim such that the party has no remaining claim in the trial.”); see also McAfee, Inc. v. CAP Co., Ltd., IPR2016-00211, Paper 19 (PTAB Apr. 5, 2017) (entering adverse judgment based on motion to amend seeking cancellation of claims remaining in the trial). In this case, the Board instituted trial on claims 1–7 of the ’565 patent, none of which remains in the trial following Patent Owner’s statutory disclaimer. Ex. 2002, 3 (disclaiming claims 1–7). Accordingly, we construe Patent Owner’s disclaimer as a request for adverse judgment, and we grant that request.” slip op. at 3
- PTAB / AIA Trials › Other PTAB motions (exclude, strike, seal, additional discovery, rehearing)Denied
“We agree with Petitioner. A motion to terminate is governed by 37 C.F.R. § 42.72 (2023). Under 37 C.F.R. § 42.72, “[t]he Board may terminate a trial without rendering a final written decision, where appropriate, including where the trial is consolidated with another proceeding or pursuant to a joint request under 35 U.S.C. [§] 317(a) or 327(a).” In this case, there is no “consolidat[ion] . . . or . . . a joint request under 35 U.S.C. [§] 317(a) or 327(a),” so the application of § 42.72 here is unclear.” slip op. at 3
NonePatents in suitUS 6,581,565 - BMW Of North America, LLC v. Michigan Motor Technologies, LLCAdverse judgmentPTAB · Jun 11, 2024 · IPR2023-01031 · APJ Scott B Howard · IPR · Adverse judgment
The Board denied Patent Owner’s motion to terminate and entered adverse judgment against it on claims 1, 2, 4–7, and 9–13 because it disclaimed all claims in the trial.
RulingsAdverse judgment- Adverse judgmentAdverse judgmentGranted
“However, application of section 42.73 is straightforward and unobjected to. See Paper 23, 3 (Patent Owner not objecting to entry of adverse judgment). The Board construes an action cancelling or disclaiming claims such that no challenged claims remain in the trial as a request for adverse judgment. 37 C.F.R. § 42.73(b)(2) (“Actions construed to be a request for adverse judgment include: . . . [c]ancellation or disclaimer of a claim such that the party has no remaining claim in the trial.”); see also McAfee, Inc. v. CAP Co., Ltd., IPR2016-00211, Paper 19 (PTAB Apr. 5, 2017) (entering adverse judgment based on motion to amend seeking cancellation of claims remaining in the trial). In this case, the Board instituted trial on claims 1, 2, 4–7, and 9–13 of the ’482 patent, none of which remains in the trial following Patent Owner’s statutory disclaimer. Ex. 2005, 5 (disclaiming claims 1, 2, 4–7, and 9–13). Accordingly, we construe Patent Owner’s disclaimer as a request for adverse judgment, and we grant that request.” slip op. at 4
- PTAB / AIA Trials › Other PTAB motions (exclude, strike, seal, additional discovery, rehearing)Denied
“Patent Owner’s request as a motion to terminate pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 42.72 (2023). Under 37 C.F.R. § 42.72, “[t]he Board may terminate a trial without rendering a final written decision, where appropriate, including where the trial is consolidated with another proceeding or pursuant to a joint 2 Patent Owner did not state that it met-and-conferred with Petitioner. Nor did Patent Owner request authorization to file a motion to terminate the proceedings. request under 35 U.S.C. 317(a) or 327(a).” In this case, there is no “consolidat[ion] . . . or a joint request under 35 U.S.C. 317(a) or 327(a),” so the application of § 42.72 here is unclear.” slip op. at 3
NonePatents in suitUS 8,909,482 - Nichia Corporation v. Document Security Systems, Inc.Adverse judgmentPTAB · Nov 18, 2022 · IPR2018-01165 · APJ Barbara A Benoit · IPR · Adverse judgment
The Board granted adverse judgment against Patent Owner as to claims 16–19 after their statutory disclaimer and terminated the proceeding.
RulingsAdverse judgment- Adverse judgmentAdverse judgmentGranted
“Moreover, under 37 § C.F.R. 42.73(b), a “party may request judgment against itself at any time during a proceeding. Actions construed to be a request for adverse judgment include . . . disclaimer of a claim such that the party has no remaining claim in the trial.” The only claims before us on remand have been disclaimed. Accordingly, we construe Patent Owner’s disclaimer to be a request for adverse judgment as to those claims which remain before us, which we now grant.” slip op. at 3
- RemandOther
“Written Decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Papers 31, 32. The court issued its decision affirming our findings as to all claims except claims 15–19. Nichia Corp. v. Document Sec. Sys., Inc., Nos. 2020-2261, 2020-2287, 2022 WL 1218036, at *1 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 26, 2022). Specifically, the court reversed our determination that Petitioner had not shown independent claim 15 to be unpatentable and remanded for further proceedings regarding dependent claims 16–19. Id. On June 14, 2022, the court issued the formal mandate. Paper 33. On June 23, 2022, Patent Owner statutorily disclaimed claims 16–19 of the ’087 patent. Thus, claims 16–19 are no longer part of this proceeding and no issues remain for us to consider on remand. See Sanofi-Aventis U.S., LLC v. Dr. Reddy’s Labs., Inc., 933 F.3d 1367, 1373 (Fed. Cir. 2019) (noting that disclaiming claims effectively eliminates those claims from the patent as though the disclaimed claims had never existed (internal quotations and citations omitted)); see also Asetek Danmark A/S v. CoolIT Sys., Inc., IPR2020-00747, Paper 42 at 6 (PTAB Sept. 30, 2021) (determining that a proceeding); cf. 37 C.F.R. § 42.107(e) (“No inter partes review will be instituted based on disclaimed claims.”).” slip op. at 2
NonePatents in suitUS 7,524,087 - PTAB · Jan 31, 2018 · IPR2017-01777 · APJ Patrick R Scanlon · IPR · Adverse judgment
The Board denied institution because Patent Owner recorded a statutory disclaimer of all challenged claims.
RulingsAdverse judgment- Adverse judgmentAdverse judgmentDenied
“Under 37 C.F.R. § 42.107(e), “patent owner may file a statutory disclaimer under 35 U.S.C. 253(a) in compliance with § 1.321(a) of this chapter, disclaiming one or more claims in the patent” and “[n]o inter partes review will be instituted based on disclaimed claims.” A disclaimer under 35 U.S.C. § 253(a) is “considered as part of the original patent” once it is “recorded” in the Office. 35 U.S.C. § 253(a).” slip op. at 3
Discretionary denialPatents in suitUS 8,167,043 - Securus Technologies, Inc. v. Global Tel*link CorporationAdverse judgmentPTAB · Jan 10, 2017 · IPR2016-01446 · APJ Georgianna W Braden · IPR · Adverse judgment
The Board entered adverse judgment against Patent Owner on claims 1–5 because those claims were statutorily disclaimed.
RulingsAdverse judgment- Adverse judgmentAdverse judgmentOther
“Under 37 C.F.R. § 42.73(b), a party may request an adverse judgment at any time during a proceeding. Disclaimer of claims, such that a party has no remaining claim in the proceeding, is deemed a request for entry of adverse judgment. 37 C.F.R. § 42.73 (b)(1) & (2). Accordingly, we construe Patent Owner’s statutory disclaimer of all of the challenged claims in the ’798 patent as a request for adverse judgment.” slip op. at 2
NonePatents in suitUS 7,333,798 - Denso Corporation v. Netlatch, LLCAdverse judgmentPTAB · Mar 8, 2016 · IPR2015-00473 · APJ Ken B Barrett · IPR · Adverse judgment
The Board granted Continental’s request for adverse judgment as patent owner for claims 14, 17, 27, and 31.
RulingsAdverse judgment- Adverse judgmentAdverse judgmentGranted
“A party may request judgment against itself at any time during a proceeding. 37 C.F.R. § 42.73(b). Pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 42.73(b)(3), “[c]oncession of unpatentability” may be construed as a request for adverse judgment. We understand Continental to expressly request entry of adverse judgment against itself as the current patent owner. IPR2015-00481, Continental’s Ownership Statement 5. Additionally, we treat Continental’s concession that certain challenged claims are unpatentable (id. at 5; see IPR2015-00481, Paper 4 (Petition) 3–4 (challenging claims 14, 17, 31, and 33 of the ’431 patent)) as a request for adverse judgment at least as to those claims. 37 C.F.R. § 42.73(b)(3). Under these circumstances, entry of judgment adverse to Patent Owner Continental is appropriate.” slip op. at 7
- PTAB / AIA Trials › Real party in interest / privityDecided for patent owner
“assignment, and found that neither weighed in favor of Mr. Wingard. Id. at 9–10. The Court ultimately found, “at the time of the [bankruptcy] filing, that the patent was owned by Mr. Wingard personally, and, therefore, became part of the [Bankruptcy] Estate,” and the Court granted the Trustee’s motion to sell the patent. Id. at 10, 11; see also Ex. 1020 (Order granting the motion). The time to appeal the order has expired and no appeal was sought. Ex. 1017, 2 (citing Fed. R. Bankr. P. 8002). In an assignment dated December 17, 2015, the Bankruptcy Trustee assigned to Continental the entire right, title, and interest in the ’431 patent. Ex. 1017. An assignment from the Trustee to Continental Automotive GmbH is recorded in the USPTO at Reel/Frame 037329/0544. Ex. 3001. II. ANALYSIS In light of the Bankruptcy Court’s Order and the authorized sale of the ’431 patent, we recognize Continental as the current owner of the ’431 patent for purposes of this inter partes review proceeding. Continental asserts in the related 481 case: “because Continental is now the patent owner and has represented that the 431 patent claims are invalid, the claims should be found unpatentable either by way of a final determination or in response to a request for adverse judgment.” IPR2015-00481, Continental’s Ownership Statement 5.6 Continental also indicates that the same request” slip op. at 6
NonePatents in suitUS 5,530,431 - PTAB · Mar 8, 2016 · IPR2015-00481 · APJ Ken B Barrett · IPR · Adverse judgment
The Board granted Continental’s request for adverse judgment on claims 14, 17, 31, and 33 after Continental, as patent owner, conceded those claims were unpatentable.
RulingsAdverse judgment- Adverse judgmentAdverse judgmentGranted
“A party may request judgment against itself at any time during a proceeding. 37 C.F.R. § 42.73(b). Pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 42.73(b)(3), “[c]oncession of unpatentability” may be construed as a request for adverse judgment. 5 Continental also asserts that Netlatch should be dismissed as a party and that all papers filed by Netlatch expunged. Continental’s Ownership Statement 5. Continental does not persuade us that those steps are necessary. See 37 C.F.R. § 41.14 (“The record of a proceeding, including documents and things, shall be made available to the public, except as otherwise ordered.”); Office Patent Trial Practice Guide, 77 Fed. Reg. 48,756, 48,760 (Aug. 14, 2012) (referring to “the public’s interest in maintaining a complete and understandable file history”). We understand Continental to expressly request entry of adverse judgment against itself as the current patent owner. Continental’s Ownership Statement 5. Additionally, we treat Continental’s concession that the challenged claims are unpatentable (id. at 5; see Pet. 3–4) as a request for adverse judgment. 37 C.F.R. § 42.73(b)(3). Under these circumstances, entry of judgment adverse to Patent Owner Continental is appropriate.” slip op. at 6
NonePatents in suitUS 5,530,431 - Maxmind, Inc. v. Fraud Control Systems.Com CorporationAdverse judgmentPTAB · Dec 17, 2015 · CBM2015-00094 · APJ James A Worth · CBM · Adverse judgment
The Board entered adverse judgment against the Patent Owner and cancelled claims 1–30 after the Patent Owner requested cancellation.
RulingsAdverse judgment- Adverse judgmentAdverse judgmentGranted
“DISCUSSION A party may request entry of adverse judgment against itself at any time during a proceeding. 37 C.F.R. § 42.73(b). Here, Patent Owner requests adverse judgment with cancellation of claims 1–30 of the ’942 patent. Under these circumstances, entry of judgment adverse to the Patent Owner and cancellation of claims 1–30 of the ʼ942 patent are appropriate. CONCLUSION AND ORDER Patent Owner’s Request to Abandon Contest is granted. It is, therefore, ORDERED that adverse judgment against the Patent Owner is entered under 37 C.F.R. § 42.73(b); FURTHER ORDERED that this constitutes a final written decision under 35 U.S.C. § 318(a); and FURTHER ORDERED that claims 1–30 of U.S. Patent No. 8,630,942 B2 be CANCELLED.” slip op. at 2
NonePatents in suitUS 8,630,942
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.