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ARTICLE · 10 OCTOBER 2020

Federal Circuit Affirms PTAB's Sanctions Order Regarding Ex Parte Communications

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP
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Apple filed petitions for inter partes review against two patents Voip-Pal had asserted against it in district court; both reviews were instituted.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Brooke M. Wilner
Brooke M. Wilner
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Apple filed petitions for inter partes review against two patents Voip-Pal had asserted against it in district court; both reviews were instituted.  During the proceedings, Dr. Thomas Sawyer, the former CEO of Voip-Pal, sent six letters directed to various members of the PTAB, the then-Acting Director of the USPTO, and the Secretary of Commerce, and sometimes copying the President, other Cabinet Secretaries, Supreme Court Justices, and Federal Circuit Judges, among others.  These letters contained Dr. Sawyer's concerns that the current state of the Patent Trial and Appeal PTAB did not embody the patent review system envisioned by the AIA.  The last few letters sought judgment in Voip-Pal's favor in the two inter partes reviews, and indicated that the USPTO had committed ethical violations and perhaps even criminal violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.  The final letter indicated that Dr. Sawyer had prepared the letters in cooperation with

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