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ARTICLE · 01 DECEMBER 2025

PRECEDENTIAL: PTAB Clarifies Real Party In Interest Analysis

Jones Day
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The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has designated as precedential a decision that squarely reaffirms the statutory requirement to identify all real parties in interest (RPI) in AIA petitions.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Carl Kukkonen III
Carl Kukkonen III
Matthew Johnson
Matthew Johnson
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The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has designated as precedential a decision that squarely reaffirms the statutory requirement to identify all real parties in interest (RPI) in AIA petitions. By elevating Corning Optical Communications RF, LLC v. PPC Broadband Inc., IPR2014‑00440, Paper 68 (PTAB Aug. 18, 2015) (except for § II.E.1), the Office has returned to the pre‑SharkNinja framework that requires petitioners to properly disclose real party in interest (RPI) before institution. This shift is more than procedural housekeeping: according to Director Squires, it reflects broader policy and national‑security concerns associated with opaque petitioning.

The AIA speaks directly to RPI identification. Under 35 U.S.C. § 312(a)(2) (and its PGR counterpart, § 322(a)(2)), a petition "may be considered only if ... the petition identifies all real parties in interest." Prior to SharkNinja, PTAB panels consistently treated this language as a threshold condition to

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