Patent Case Summaries | Week Ending May 13, 2022

A weekly summary of the precedential patent-related opinions issued by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the opinions designated precedential or informative by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

Atlanta Gas Light Co. v. Bennett Regulator Guards, Inc., No. 2021-1759 (Fed. Cir. (PTAB) May 13, 2022). Opinion by Stoll, joined by Lourie. Dissenting opinion by Newman.

In this third appeal relating to an IPR proceeding, the Federal Circuit dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

Initially, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board had found that the petitioner was not time barred from petitioning for IPR under 35 U.S.C. § 315(b). The Board also found the challenged claims unpatentable over the prior art. On appeal of those rulings, the Federal Circuit held that the petitioner should have been time barred, and thus vacated and remanded. The remand included instructions that the Board should further consider a sanctions order that the Board had not yet