Federal Circuit Issues Remand In Ten Year Reexamination Proceeding

In Tempo Lighting, Inc. v. Tivoli, LLC, the Federal Circuit vacated the decision of the U.S. Patent Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board that had reversed the Examiner's rejection of most of the claims of the patent at issue. While the decision touches on a few important legal issues, this ten year reexamination proceeding illustrates the need to impose a statutory deadline for completing post grant proceedings in order to make them a more viable alternative to district court litigation.

The Patent at Issue

The patent at issue was Tivoli's U.S. 6,554,446, filed January 3, 2000 and granted April 29, 2003.

As summarized in the Federal Circuit decision, Tivoli sued Tempo for patent infringement in February of 2004, Tempo requested inter partes reexamination of the '446 patent, and the district court stayed the infringement suit pending the outcome of the reexamination proceeding.