Comments on a Proposed Pilot Program Exploring an Alternative Approach to Institution Decisions in Post Grant Administrative Reviews

 

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is requesting comments on a proposed pilot program pertaining to the institution and conduct of the post grant administrative trials provided for in the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA). The AIA provides for the following post grant administrative trials: Inter Partes Review (IPR), Post-Grant Review (PGR), and Covered Business Method Review (CBM). The USPTO currently has a panel of three APJs decide whether to institute a trial, and then normally has the same three-APJ panel conduct the trial, if instituted. The USPTO is considering a pilot program under which the determination of whether to institute an IPR will be made by a single APJ, with two additional APJs being assigned to the IPR if a trial is instituted. Under this pilot program, any IPR trial will be conducted by a panel of three APJs, two of whom were not involved in the determination to institute the IPR.

Comments must be sent by electronic mail message over the Internet addressed to:
PTABTrialPilot@uspto.gov. Electronic comments submitted in plain text are preferred, but also may be submitted in ADOBE® portable document format or MICROSOFT WORD® format. The comments will be available for viewing via the USPTO's Internet Web site (http://www.uspto.gov). Because comments will be made available for public inspection, information that the submitter does not desire to make public, such as an address or phone number, should not be included in the comments.
 

A. Intellectual Property Organizations and Government Agencies

  1. ABA
  2. AIPLA
  3. JIPA
  4. NYIPLA

B. Corporations and Associations

  1. Adobe et al
  2. Askeladen
  3. IBM
  4. Ford et al
  5. Nokia
  6. Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
  7. Public Knowledge and EFF

C. Law Firm

  1. Oblon

D. Individuals

  1. Robert M. Asher
  2. Kenneth W. Hairston
  3. Andy Piatnicia
  4. Graham K. Staton
  5. Mark Terry
  6. Jon Wright et al