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ARTICLE · 21 AUGUST 2020

PTAB's Motion To Amend Pilot Program: Review Of Initial Results

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Since the inception of inter partes reviews (IPRs) and post grant reviews (PGRs) under the America Invents Act, the option for a patent owner to file a motion to amend its claims was always...

United StatesIntellectual Property
Stephen Maebius
Stephen Maebius
Jason Mock
Jason Mock
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Since the inception of inter partes reviews (IPRs) and post grant reviews (PGRs) under the America Invents Act, the option for a patent owner to file a motion to amend its claims was always present, but motions to amend were rarely successful. However, in March 2019, the PTAB enacted a pilot program for motions to amend ("MTA") that would apply to all AIA trial proceedings instituted on or after March 15, 2019. The idea of the pilot program was to make MTAs a more viable option for patent owners by providing initial feedback from the PTAB on an MTA and a second "bite at the apple" to fix the MTA based on any negative initial guidance received. In this blog post, we analyze the initial results and conclude that, while it is still early in development and subsequent results could lead to new insights, for now at least patent owners may be better off using alternative approaches such as reissue or ex parte reexamination.1

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