The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB or Board) reversed its
previous decision invalidating claims of a patent covering a
coaxial cable connector after the US Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit found that the PTAB erred in construing one of the
claim terms. Corning Optical Communications RF, LLC v. PPC
Broadband, Inc., Case No. IPR2013-00342 (PTAB, Oct. 12, 2016)
(Zecher, APJ).
Corning Optical Communications filed a petition requesting
inter partes review (IPR) of claims of a patent covering a
coaxial cable connector. The PTAB determined that there was a
reasonable likelihood that the claims were invalid in light of the
prior art raised in the petition. The PTAB therefore instituted the
IPR proceeding. During this proceeding, the PTAB construed the term
"reside around" to mean "in the immediate vicinity
of; near" rather than "encircle or surround." The
PTAB based this construction on competing dictionary definitions in
light of the fact that the specification
