On November 16, 2022, the United States Patent and Trademark
Office (“PTO”) vacated a reexamination proceeding
because the patent challenger relied on unpatentability grounds
that reasonably could have been raised in an earlier inter
partes review. Ex parte Reexamination of U.S.
Patent No. 6,601,821, 90/014,950, Decision on Petition to Vacate
Reexamination Order (USPTO, Nov. 16, 2022).
The case at issue involves a dispute between GITS Manufacturing
Co. (“GITS”), a manufacturer of diesel engines, and
G.W. Lisk Co. (“G.W. Lisk”), the owner of U.S. Patent
No. 6,601,821 (“the '821 patent”) directed to a
valve assembly for an exhaust gas recirculation system. In
2016, G.W. Lisk filed suit against GITS in the U.S. District Court
for the Southern District of Iowa, alleging that GITS' diesel
engines and related products infringe the '821
patent. G.W. Lisk Company, Inc. v. Power Packer
North America, Inc., No. 4:17-cv-00273 (S.D. Iowa).