PTAB Reverses Course, Allows Sand Patent Challenge

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board will allow a Texas company to challenge a fracking patent, reversing course from a previous decision.

Logistics service provider Sand Revolution II LLC convinced the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office tribunal to reconsider a February refusal of its request for review of claims in a patent belonging to Continental Intermodal Group - Trucking LLC.

In its earlier decision, the board emphasized that a jury trial in a related district court lawsuit was set to begin before the board could make a validity determination. The trial schedule has since changed, and the PTAB said there ...