As the court fight in Tafas v. Kappos about the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s proposed patent rule overhaul winds down, the agency is fighting a separate court challenge to regulations governing appeals of agency re-examinations of issued patents.
The case brought by German company Sigram Schindler Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH in the Eastern District of Virginia in August challenges the PTO’s rules for appealing PTO decisions on so-called ex parte re-examination proceedings. On Oct. 21, the PTO filed a motion for summary judgment to dispose of the case.
