On Sept. 16, 2011, President Barack Obama signed into law the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), which directs the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to issue administrative rules implementing the AIA’s provisions by Sept. 16. Accordingly, in July and August, the USPTO published six sets of final rules in the Federal Register.
Of particular interest to patent litigators in this blizzard of administrative regulations are the new final rules for two new administrative trial proceedings, which offer an alternative to federal district court litigation for challenging the patentability of a claimed invention in an issued patent. These two new proceedings replace traditional inter partes patent re-examination with a revamped inter partes review (IPR) process and add a new post-grant review (PGR) mechanism.
