PTAB Interprets "By Another" In 35 § 102(e)

In connection with a dispute over parking meters, the PTAB, on March 27, 2017, issued a decision in IPR2016-00067 that Duncan Parking Technologies, Inc. (DPT) had not met its burden of showing, by a preponderance of evidence, that claims 1-5, 7, and 9 of the U.S. Patent No. 7,854,310 ("the '310 patent"), owned by IPS Group, Inc. (IPS), were anticipated under 35 U.S.C. §102(e). With respect to claims 8 and 10, however, DPT met the requisite burden such that these claims were found to be unpatentable.

U.S.C. §102(e) serves as a barrier to patentability if the subject invention was described in "a patent granted on an application for patent by another filed in the United States before the invention by the applicant for patent." "By another" refers to a different inventive entity, such that prior works with a different inventive entity do not bar patentability under §102(e). In cases where the prior work has multiple named inventors, and one or more of the named