Limitations Absent From A Notice Of Allowability May Be Material

On August 24, 2023, USPTO Director Kathi Vidal vacated a PTAB decision denying institution of inter partes review in Keysight Technologies, Inc. v. Centripetal Networks, Inc. and remanded the case for further proceedings. IPR2022-01421, Paper 14 (Aug. 24, 2023). The Petition for institution concerns Patent No. 10,681,009 B2 ("the '009 patent"), directed towards "Rule Swapping in a Packet Network."

Keysight Technologies, Inc. ("Petitioner") petitioned for institution of inter partes review of claims 1-30 of the '009 patent, arguing the claims were invalid for obviousness. Id. at 2. Centripetal Networks, Inc. ("Respondent") argued that the PTAB should exercise its discretion to deny the petition because the same references and arguments cited by Petitioner were previously considered by the Office and Petitioner did not show that the Office erred in a manner material to the patentability of the challenged claims. Id. at 2.