Myers Bigel Wins Inter Partes Review for Technology Client
Litigation attorneys at award-winning Myers Bigel & Sibley, P.A. (Myers Bigel), the largest independent patent law firm in North Carolina, have recently secured a highly favorable inter partes review (IPR) final decision from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
The attorneys also obtained a decision from the PTAB to not institute a trial in a related IPR proceeding.
In late January, a USPTO review board ruled fully in favor of the firm’s client, Precision Fabrics, Inc. in a challenge to one of the its patents for flame-retardant intumescent fabrics. The board held that the challenger, Tietex International,Ltd. had “not shown by a preponderance of the evidence that claims 1–22 of the ’639 patent are unpatentable.”
In February, that same review board again ruled in favor of Precision Fabrics and declined to institute a challenge to a related patent directed to the same field of invention. The Board stated that it did “not perceive that Petitioner has offered any argument or evidence that significantly differs from that offered” in the other proceeding that went all the way to a final written decision. Because the second petition did not include any content “that is likely to lead to a different result” the board did not institute the proceeding.
According to year-end 2015 USPTO statistics, 732 IPR review petitions were instituted and resulted in final decisions, with just 13 percent resulting in all of the challenged claims of the patent being upheld.
Precision Fabrics is also involved in litigation against Tietex, currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. In that case, Precision Fabrics has accused Tietex of infringing its patents.
The litigation team handles each intellectual property dispute in an efficient and cost-effective manner, utilizing a wealth of practical experience with district court litigation, licensing, mediation, International Trade Commission proceedings, post grant proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and trademark proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. In each representation, the litigation team seeks to resolve disputed matters using approaches that maximize the return to the client with appropriate consideration of the costs and risks associated with each matter.
“This was not only a big win for the litigation group, but a validation of our firm’s quality patent prosecution,” Ken Sibley, one of the firm’s co-founders said, adding, “Most patents are never challenged in this way, and I’m quite proud that this one withstood every challenge.”
http://www.myersbigel.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/final-decision-39.pdf