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ARTICLE · 12 AUGUST 2014

Inter Partes Review Still Difficult For Patent Owners

McDermott Will & Emery
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The PTAB found several claims subject to the requestor's petition to be unpatentable over the prior art and denied the patent owner's motion to amend the claims.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Gregory Yoder
Gregory Yoder
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EcoWater Systems LLC v. Culligan International Co.

In a final written decision, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB, the Board) found several claims subject to the requestor's petition to be unpatentable over the prior art and denied the patent owner's motion to amend the claims. EcoWater Systems LLC v. Culligan International Co., Case No. IPR2013-00155 (PTAB, June 24, 2014) (Droesch, APJ).

EcoWater challenged Culligan's smart water softener patent, which claimed a water softener that could check water chemistry levels, transmit the chemistry information to a service provider if service was needed, download updated software and provide two-way communication between the softener and a remote controller.

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