CAFC Reverses Long Standing PTAB Precedent On 1-Year Window

"Without Prejudice" Dismissal of Earlier Complaint Does not Restart 315(b) Clock

As I predicted it would back in May, the Federal Circuit has now reversed the long-standing practice of the Patent Trial & Appeal Board (PTAB) to accept certain IPR petitions outside of the 1-year window of 35 U.S.C. § 315(b). While 315(b) precludes petitions filed more than one year after service of a complaint of infringement for a subject patent, the Board had consistently held that where a first-filed complaint (outside the window) was dismissed without prejudice, that the one-year window would essentially reset. In other words the PTAB adopted the legal principal that a voluntary dismissal of a complaint renders the earlier proceeding a nullity and leave the parties as if the action had never been brought.