- Illumina, Inc. v. The Trustees Of Columbia University In The City Of New YorkAll claims unpatentablePTAB · Sep 9, 2019 · IPR2018-00797 · APJ Michelle N Ankenbrand · IPR · Final written decision
Claims 1 and 2 are unpatentable as obvious over the instituted grounds; the Board also denied Petitioner’s motion to exclude and found no estoppel against Patent Owner.
RulingsFinal written decision- ExcludeMotion to exclude, deniedDenied
“II. PETITIONER’S MOTION TO EXCLUDE In support of its briefing, Patent Owner provided a declaration of” slip op. at 9
- PTAB / AIA Trials › §315(e) estoppelEstoppel does not applyDecided for patent owner
“proceedings or would otherwise have a collateral estoppel effect on the current proceedings. See Paper 59, 4–5. For the reasons set forth below, we determine that the claims of the ’985 patent have material differences from the claims at issue in the previous proceedings, and that there is no inconsistency between Patent Owner’s positions in the current proceeding and in the previous proceedings. Accordingly, we determine that there is no estoppel attaching to Patent Owner with respect to the present inter partes reviews. Below, we provide a brief history of the previous proceedings and then address Petitioner’s contentions.” slip op. at 61
- Obviousness (§103) › Motivation to combine / reasonable expectation of successMotivation foundReasonable expectation foundUnpatentable
“analogues for SBS, and Metzker reports actually achieving such a molecule. Accordingly, the preponderance of the evidence supports our determination that a person of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success and reasonable likelihood of success in “meet[ing] the limitations” of claim 1 to the extent the claim requires using such an analogue. Intelligent Bio-Systems, Inc., 821 F.3d at 1367.” slip op. at 50
- Obviousness (§103) › Motivation to combine / reasonable expectation of success › Teaching awayTeaching away not foundDecided for patent owner
“analogues for SBS, and Metzker reports actually achieving such a molecule. Accordingly, the preponderance of the evidence supports our determination that a person of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success and reasonable likelihood of success in “meet[ing] the limitations” of claim 1 to the extent the claim requires using such an analogue. Intelligent Bio-Systems, Inc., 821 F.3d at 1367.” slip op. at 50
Patent outcomesUS 9,868,985 unpatentable§ 103 obviousnesscites KSR · GrahamPatents in suitUS 9,868,985 - Rust-Oleum Corporation / RPM International, Inc.Rehearing grantedPTAB · Jul 23, 2019 · IPR2017-02158 · APJ Christopher G Paulraj · IPR · Rehearing
The Board accepted Patent Owners’ rehearing request as timely but denied rehearing, finding no overlooked or misapprehended issue requiring modification of the final written decision.
RulingsRehearing decision- RehearingRehearing, deniedDenied
“layer is being removed (i.e., Example 1). Id. at 2–3. We are not persuaded that we misapprehended or overlooked the evidence of record regarding whether Baumgärtel requires the use of pigments for rejuvenation. As we noted in our Final Written Decision, Example 1 of Baumgärtel does not mention the use of any pigments yet discusses the removal of the yellowed/damaged surface layer of white siding using a composition containing 99% dichloromethane. Paper 29, 42. Although the amendment in the Proposed Substitute Claims required both color and luster to be restored, it did not otherwise modify our construction of “rejuvenating,” which encompasses either “remov[ing] or transform[ing] the chalky surface that develops on vinyl siding that is exposed to sunlight and other environmental conditions.” Id. at 15 (emphasis added). The teaching in Baumgärtel’s Example 1 of removing the surface layer using a 99% dichloromethane solution satisfies our construction of “rejuvenating.” We, therefore, did not misapprehend or overlook Patent Owners’ evidence and arguments in determining that Example 1 of Baumgärtel anticipates the Proposed Substitute Claims.” slip op. at 7
- PTAB / AIA Trials › Other PTAB motions (exclude, strike, seal, additional discovery, rehearing)Granted
“Under 37 C.F.R. § 42.5(c)(3), “[a] late action will be excused on a showing of good cause or upon a Board decision that consideration on the merits would be in the interests of justice.” 37 C.F.R. § 42.5(c)(3) (emphasis added). Patent Owners have presented evidence tending to show that their counsel believed that the Request for Rehearing was timely filed on May 8, 2019. See Exs. 2011–2013. It does not appear, however, that they attached any document with their filing before clicking the submit button on PTAB E2E. In this regard, we note that the email generated by the PTAB E2E system and sent to counsel of record on May 8, 2019 clearly stated “THERE WERE NO DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED WITH THIS REQUEST.” Ex. 3001. Patent Owners have not explained why they did not take immediate action after receiving that email to determine whether the Request for Rehearing was actually filed.1 Indeed, Patent Owners remained” slip op. at 4
- PTAB / AIA Trials › Joinder §315(c) / SAS all-or-nothingDecided for petitioner
“http://www.uspto.gov/ip/boards/bpai/prps.jsp#heading-5 (emphasis added). 2 We are also not persuaded that the filing of a Notice of Appeal (Paper 33) by Patent Owners divested the Board of jurisdiction to decide the merits of the Request for Rehearing. The Federal Circuit’s decision in In re Graves, 69 F.3d 1147 (Fed. Cir. 1995), is instructive on this point. There, the applicant had filed a notice of appeal to the Federal Circuit after the Board entered its initial decision but before the Board’s decision on a request for reconsideration. Id. at 1150. Because the notice of appeal was filed too late if based on the initial decision, the court determined that the Board’s initial” slip op. at 5
- Novelty / Anticipation (§102) › Anticipation standard (single reference, every element) › Inherent disclosureNot reached
“misapprehended evidence and arguments showing that Dr. Storey’s experiment was not based on Example 1 of Baumgärtel, and thus insufficient for Petitioners to meet their burden of showing inherent anticipation. Ex. 2010, 4–6. But, as set forth in our Final Written Decision, we fully considered the evidence of record and determined that the experiments conducted by Dr. Storey further support a finding of inherent anticipation by Baumgärtel. Paper 29, 43 (citing Ex. 1022 ¶¶ 12–36). We recognized that the 99.5% pure dichloromethane used by Dr. Storey for his experiments did not include the 1% of additional ingredients identified in Example 1, but took into account Dr. Storey’s unrebutted testimony that those additional ingredients in such small proportions would not have materially affected the rejuvenation characteristics of dichloromethane. Id. at 43–44 (citing Ex. 1005 ¶¶ 81–82). As we noted, Patent Owners did not cross-examine Dr. Storey as to his declaration testimony in this proceeding; nor did Patent Owners’ expert Dr. Grulke address these points in his own declaration. Id. at 44. Thus, we are not persuaded that we misapprehended or overlooked the cited testimony of Dr. Storey regarding inherent anticipation.” slip op. at 7
§ 102 anticipationPatents in suitUS 6,669,991 - Trans Ova Genetics, LC v. Xy, LLCNo claims unpatentablePTAB · Jun 26, 2019 · IPR2018-00250 · APJ David Cotta · IPR · Final written decision
Claims 1–16 were not proven unpatentable because Petitioner failed to establish that Lu, relied on in every asserted obviousness ground, was prior art.
RulingsFinal written decision- Novelty / Anticipation (§102) › Priority / effective filing date / continuation supportReference not prior artNot shown unpatentable
“Inc. v. Apotex Inc., 754 F.3d 952, 968 (Fed. Cir. 2014); In re Katz, 687 F.2d 450, 454 (Fed. Cir. 1982). “The question of whether a reference is a work of others for the purposes of § 102(a) is, like that of inventorship, a question of law based on underlying facts.” Allergan, 754 F.3d at 969 (citing Ethicon, Inc. v. U.S. Surgical Corp., 135 F.3d 1456, 1460 (Fed. Cir. 1998)). In determining whether a reference is the work of the named inventor(s), the inquiry focuses on whether the relevant content of the reference – which includes “the design, trial, and analysis of results” – was solely the work of the inventor(s). See Allergan, 754 F.3d at 969; Riverwood Int’l Corp. v. R.A. Jones & Co., 324 F.3d 1346, 1356 (Fed. Cir. 2003) (“What is significant is not merely the differences in the listed inventors, but whether the portions of the reference relied on as prior art, and the subject matter of the claims in question, represent the work of a common inventive entity.”).” slip op. at 14
- Expert testimonyPatent owner expert creditedOther
“9 We acknowledge that Mr. Miles, as a former board member of XY, as well as XY’s long-time patent counsel and the filer of the ’769 priority provisional applications, may have some interest in the outcome of this IPR and that Mr. Miles is being compensated by XY for time spent relating to his testimony. Ex. 2003 ¶¶ 4–7; Ex. 1033, 21:7–14, 158:8–22. However, we note that Mr. Miles’ testimony was under oath and subject to cross-examination. We find Mr. Miles’ testimony to be credible as to the facts for which it is cited herein.” slip op. at 10
- ExcludeMotion to exclude, deniedMixed
“Exclude. Paragraph 12 of the Miles Declaration reads as follows: “Also[,] in the late 1990s, XY had a collaborative research agreement with a bull stud called Cogent in the United Kingdom.” Ex. 2003 ¶ 12.11 This statement is not itself hearsay because it was asserted by Mr. Miles while testifying in this proceeding, i.e., “at the current trial.” See Fed. R. Evid. 801(c). Petitioner contends that paragraph 12 is inadmissible because it is based, at least in part, on statements contained in Exhibits 2001 and 2002. We are not persuaded by this argument because paragraph 12 does not rely on Exhibits 2001 and 2002. See Ex. 2003 ¶ 12; Ex. 1033, 59:22–62:18 (Mr. Miles’ testimony on basis and meaning of paragraph 12 of his declaration). Petitioner also argues that paragraph 12 should be excluded as improper opinion testimony because it is based on Exhibits 2001 and 2002, to which, according to Petitioner, Mr. Miles is not competent to testify. Mot. 13–14. We are not persuaded by Petitioner’s argument because, as discussed, paragraph 12 does not rely on Exhibits 2001 and 2002.” slip op. at 22
Patent outcomesUS 8,652,769 not shown unpatentable§ 102 anticipationPatents in suitUS 8,652,769
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.