Totality of Circumstances for Determining Public
Accessibility
Over the years, the Patent Trial & Appeal Board had become
panel dependent in assessing questions of public accessibility at
institution. Some panels seemed to require a showing of a
likelihood of public accessibility to move forward, while others
required a more definitive showing. Last spring, the Precedential
Opinion Panel (POP) took up this growing rift in institution
standards in Hulu, LLC v. Sound View Innovations, LLC,
Case IPR2018-01039. Specifically, the POP addressed the
requirements for establishing that a reference qualifies as a
printed publication at the time of institution.
In its now precedential decision, the Board found that a more
flexible approach was needed at institution.