BMW Convinces Judge to Remand Patent Chief’s ‘Arbitrary’ Denial

The last director of the US Patent and Trademark Office ignored evidence in shutting down BMW’s challenge to a cruise-control patent its been accused of infringing, a Virginia federal judge as she instructed the agency to better explain itself.

BMW of North America LLC, a unit of the German luxury car maker, sued then-PTO head Kathi Vidal in 2023 after she wiped out an administrative panel’s decision to examine Carrum Technologies LLC’s patent. Vidal concluded that BMW’s May 2021 request for a review of the patent’s alleged obviousness raised arguments too similar to a trio of previous challenges previously rejected ...