Patent Rule Skips Contentious Changes, Proposes Refined Test (1)

The US Patent and Trademark Office proposed rules Thursday seeking to codify factors its administrative tribunal considers when deciding whether to review the validity of patents.

The proposal details two tests and creates a separate Patent Trial and Appeal Board discretionary denial briefing process. If adopted, the draft rule would also define certain petitions, including successive and overlapping challenges targeting the same patent.

The notice of proposed rulemaking is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Friday.

The announcement comes a year after the PTO faced pushback against its April 2023 advance notice of proposed rulemaking that floated ...