The Patent and Trial Appeal Board (PTAB) Precedential Opinion
Panel (POP) refused to revisit an earlier PTAB panel decision,
reiterating that it remains within the discretion of a PTAB panel
to deny institution on a patent challenge because of a pending
trial in federal district court. Sand Revolution II, LLC v.
Continental Intermodal Group – Trucking LLC, Case No.
IPR2019-01393, Paper 18 (PTAB Apr. 6, 2020) (Iancu, Dir.;
Hirshfeld, Comm'r; Boalick, CAPJ, sitting as POP); Sand
Revolution II, LLC v. Continental Intermodal Group – Trucking
LLC, Case No. IPR2019-01393, Paper 19 (PTAB Apr. 7, 2020).
After Sand Revolution petitioned for inter partes
review (IPR) of Continental Intermodal Group's (CIG's)
patent, CIG filed a preliminary response raising the issue of
potential interference between any IPR proceeding and a pending
district court proceeding. In a divided decision, a PTAB panel
reasoned that the precedential PTAB decision
NHK Spring (which permits
