Patent Trial and Appeal Board Rules of Practice for Briefing Discretionary Denial Issues, and Rules for 325(d) Considerations, Instituting Parallel and Serial Petitions, and Termination Due to Settlement Agreement; Withdrawal

Key Points

• 1The Patent Office would establish clearer standards for deciding whether to accept patent challenge cases, giving both companies and inventors more predictability about when their cases will be heard
• 2New rules would prevent people from filing too many similar patent challenges in a row, which could reduce repeated attacks on the same patent and lower costs for patent owners
• 3The regulation clarifies what happens to patent cases when the disputing parties reach a settlement agreement and want to stop the legal process
• 4These changes affect technology companies, inventors, patent lawyers, and anyone who owns or challenges patents in their business
• 5This is a proposed rule that is still under review and not yet final; the Patent Office is gathering feedback before deciding whether to implement these changes

Key Dates