Tips For Effectively Organizing PTAB Appeals Brief – Claim Grouping

Filing an appeal brief with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) can be an effective way to advance prosecution and secure allowable claims. Last November, we summarized Tips for Writing Effective PTAB Briefs to help propel applicants to PTAB victory. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published guidance on March 11, 2015 about claim grouping in appeal briefs, "Effective Use of Claim Grouping in Appeals to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board." We now summarize the guidance and provide further tips in view of it to help make the organization of your brief effective. Perhaps the most important tip of all is to remember that, as emphasized in the PTAB guidance's concluding paragraph, every situation is different. Carefully considering the issues in your particular case will help ensure that your appeal brief is organized as effectively as possible.