PTAB and post-grant proceedings

The America Invents Act of 2011 created an administrative tribunal — the Patent Trial and Appeal Board — that conducts adjudicative proceedings to test whether issued claims should survive. For most patents litigated today, the PTAB is the parallel forum that runs alongside, and often ahead of, the district court. The pages below cover the two principal AIA trials, the estoppel that follows them, and the trial-level procedure that governs both.

• Inter partes review (IPR)35 U.S.C. §§ 311–319. The dominant validity proceeding. Limited to § 102/§ 103 grounds and patents-and-printed-publications prior art.
• Post-grant review (PGR)35 U.S.C. §§ 321–329. Broader grounds than IPR but available only in the first nine months after issuance.
• IPR estoppel35 U.S.C. § 315(e). Petitioner is barred from raising in district court grounds that were raised or reasonably could have been raised.
• PTAB trial procedure37 C.F.R. Part 42. Petition, preliminary response, institution, trial, oral hearing, and final written decision within twelve months.