When Is A Conference Paper Publicly Accessible: Lessons Learned

In Power Integrations, Inc. v. Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC, the PTAB provided new guidance to practitioners regarding the eligibility of conference papers as printed publications for use as prior art references in an IPR. IPR2017-01904, slip op. at 9-18 (PTAB March 12, 2018) (Paper 9). In Power Integrations, the Board dealt with whether a conference paper that had been provided to Petitioner's expert and other conference attendees in book form qualified as a printed publication for prior art purposes.

In determining eligibility, the Board found that public accessibility was the "touchstone" in evaluating eligibility as a printed publication and identified several key factors for evaluating whether a paper is publicly accessible. First, the Board evaluated whether the prior art was publicized or placed in front of the "interested public." Id. at 15. Here, Petitioner's evidence weighed against public accessibility, because Petitioner had failed to