New USPTO Director Continues IPR Shake-Up

Earlier this year the acting director of the USPTO "Sh[oo]k Up IPR Practice with Expanded Discretionary Denials" even before the new USPTO director had been confirmed by the Senate. Director John Squires has now been confirmed, and he has taken this "shake-up" to a whole new level.

Background and Prior Changes

To review, the IPR process was created by the 2011 Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) as a faster, more cost-effective alternative to challenging patent validity in court. Often used by defendants in infringement cases, an IPR begins when a challenger files a petition with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), laying out arguments for why a patent claim should be invalidated.¹