Hague Convention May Help Foreign Defendants In IPR

The America Invents Act¹ introduced an inter partes review proceeding at the  U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for challenging the validity of a patent. Under the AIA, an IPR proceeding may not be instituted if the petition requesting the proceeding is filed more than one year after the date on which the petitioner, real party in interest, or privy of the petitioner is served with a complaint alleging infringement of the patent.²

The process of serving a patent infringement complaint is often routine and uneventful. While the federal rules require the plaintiff to serve a copy of the complaint and a court summons on the defendant, the defendant may choose to waive such a formal "service of process" in exchange for additional time to answer the complaint. Some defendants also may waive the formal service-of-process procedure as a professional courtesy, or agree to accept informal service through their outside counsel.