PTAB Rejects L-3 AIA Reviews For Failure To Show Prior Art

On behalf of Power Survey LLC, a team from Sterne Kessler’s Patent Office Litigation Practice led by Jon E. Wright and including Michael B. Ray and Ross G. Hicks, Ph.D. has obtained from the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board a dismissal of a request to institute inter partes reviews of three of Power Survey’s patents. The PTAB granted the dismissal concluding that the evidence that Petitioner, L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. advanced failed to qualify as prior art and thus to establish its priority rights.

IPR is one of three new adjudicative proceedings established by the American Invents Act—the other two are “post grant” review and special procedures for reviewing “covered business method” patents. The success of these proceedings as compared to District Court validity challenges has caused these proceedings to become part of virtually every patent enforcement action.

Sterne Kessler filed four of the first ten inter partes reviews at the USPTO days after the AIA was implemented in September, 2012. Currently, Sterne Kessler leads all firms in the number of successful final written decisions, with 100% of its completed trials resulting in positive outcomes for its clients.

The Power Survey win was covered by legal outlet Law360 and can be read by subscribers at www.law360.com.