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ARTICLE · 08 JUNE 2022

Patent Office Interim Process Aimed To Improve Consistency

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On May 26, 2022, the Patent Office issued its "Interim Process for PTAB Decision Circulation And Internal PTAB Review". The Office issued the Process to explain its new procedures for circulating pre-issuance decisions...

United StatesIntellectual Property
Matthew Johnson
Matthew Johnson
Susan Gerber
Susan Gerber
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On May 26, 2022, the Patent Office issued its "Interim Process for PTAB Decision Circulation And Internal PTAB Review". The Office issued the Process to explain its new procedures for circulating pre-issuance decisions, which were designed to promote open decision-making and reinforce that the panel's adoption of any feedback from the process is optional. The Process also makes clear that "the Director is not involved, pre-issuance, in directing or otherwise influencing any panel decisions."

The new circulation procedure is "based on decision circulation processes used by the Federal Circuit," and provides that certain categories of PTAB draft decisions are circulated, prior to issuance, to a pool of non-management peer judges, called "the Circulation Judge Pool." Draft decisions in at least the following categories will be circulated: all AIA institution decisions; AIA final written decisions; AIA decisions on rehearing; decisions on remand from the

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