Last year, on the first day it could do so, Garmin International Inc. requested an inter partes review of a patent held by Cuozzo Speed Technologies. The new review procedure, authorized by the America Invents Act, lets a third party challenge the claims made in an already issued patent. Three months earlier, Cuozzo had brought an infringement action against Garmin, and the Kansas-based GPS company wanted to fight back.
Earlier this month, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board invalidated three of Cuozzo’s claims on the grounds of obviousness, a move cheered by Garmin and other companies backed into corners on infringement allegations.
