Alex Yap and Jean Nguyen authored an article for Law360 covering the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) precedential decisions in SharkNinja Operating LLC v. iRobot Corp. and RPX Corp. v. Applications in Internet Time, addressing what constitutes a privy or real party in interest (RPI) who may benefit from the outcome of Leahy-Smith America Invents Act proceedings, and when one must be identified.
“The recent precedential PTAB cases present a mixed bag for IPR petitioners,” the authors wrote. “Although SharkNinja removes a procedural gotcha that had tripped up many petitioners, RPX makes it more difficult for member organizations to win RPI challenges when a member is time-barred or estopped.”
They added: “RPX also injects uncertainty into the business model of defensive patent member organizations, as a member who is time-barred or estopped from filing a petition may affect another member’s ability to do so.”
Read the full article.