Patent Trial And Appeal Board Claim Construction Cannot Be Unreasonable

Microsoft Corp., v. Proxyconn, Inc.

Although the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has held that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB or Board) has the authority to use the broadest reasonable interpretation claim construction standard, it reversed and remanded several Board claim constructions on the basis that they are overly broad or unreasonable. Microsoft Corp., v. Proxyconn, Inc., Case Nos. 14-1542 and -1543 (Fed. Cir., June 16, 2015) (Prost, C.J.).

At the conclusion of an inter partes review (IPR) proceeding, the Board concluded that all of the 24 challenged claims except 4 were unpatentable and denied entry of Proxyconn's motion to enter substitute claims. Proxyconn appealed challenging the broadest reasonable interpretation (BRI) standard for claim construction used by the Board. During the appeal the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) intervened to defend the BRI statement. The Federal Circuit