On August 29, 2019, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB)
designated as precedential its January 31, 2019 decision in
Cisco Systems, Inc. v. Chrimar Systems, Inc. In
Cisco, the PTAB held that 35 U.S.C. § 315(a)(1) bars
institution of IPR if the petitioner filed an earlier civil action,
even if such action was voluntarily dismissed by the petitioner
without prejudice.
Under § 315(a)(1), an IPR "may not be instituted if,
before the date on which the petition for such a review is filed,
the petitioner or real party in interest filed a civil action
challenging the validity of a claim of the patent."
Cisco filed an IPR petition challenging seven claims of
Chrimar's U.S. Patent No. 8,902,760. Prior to filing the
petition, Cisco filed a civil action challenging the validity of
the patent at issue in the district court. Cisco then
voluntarily dismissed the action without prejudice.