Patent Office Multiple Attack Pushback Leads to Tactical Revamp

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is making it harder for companies to try to get patents invalidated when partner organizations are legally barred from doing so, causing practitioners on both sides to reconsider strategies.

The agency in a precedential decision laid out a framework for patent tribunal judges to apply in weighing whether companies involved with membership groups like RPX Corp. or partnering with other patent challenging outfits qualify as real parties in interest (RPIs)—those who would benefit from a patent tribunal decision even though they’re not the petitioner.

RPX Corp. v. Applications in Internet Time LLC, a ...