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ARTICLE · 07 JANUARY 2021

Top 5 PTAB Decisions Of 2020

Ropes & Gray LLP
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In 2020, the Board continued to expand 314(a) discretion through numerous Precedential Opinion Panel (POP) decisions.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Scott A. McKeown
Scott A. McKeown
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2020: POP Precedents & Director Driven Changes

In 2020, the Board continued to expand 314(a) discretion through numerous Precedential Opinion Panel (POP) decisions. These decisions, among a number of other developments, demonstrated a clear interest on the part of the current Director to rebalance AIA trial proceedings in the direction of patent owners. At the same time, the agency experienced increasing push back from larger innovator organizations - often subject to frivolous patent litigation- to rein in discretionary practices as it relates to favorite NPE venues. Rule packages attempting to codify 314(a) practices in a manner that would conform with the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) were killed, and lawsuits challenging the agency 314(a) practices were filed. In the background (as seems to occur every year) a constitutional challenge to the PTAB's very existence made its way to the SCOTUS.

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