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PRESS RELEASE
May 8, 2018
#18-06
CONTACT: (Media Only)
Paul Fucito
(571) 272-8400 or paul.fucito@uspto.gov
USPTO Announces Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Claim Construction Standard used in PTAB Proceedings
Alexandria, VA – Today, the United States Patent and Trademark Office announced its proposed rulemaking to change the prior policy of using the Broadest Reasonable Interpretation standard for construing unexpired and proposed amended patent claims in Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) proceedings under the America Invents Act. The proposed new standard is the same as the standard applied in Article III courts and International Trade Commission (ITC) proceedings.
The USPTO also proposed to amend the rules for PTAB trials to add that the USPTO will consider any prior claim construction determination concerning a term of the claim in a civil action, or an ITC proceeding, that is timely made of record in an Inter Partes Review (IPR), Post Grant Review (PGR), or Covered Business Method (CBM) proceeding.
The purposes of the proposed rule include, among other things, to ensure consistency in claim construction between the PTAB and proceedings in district court or at the ITC, and to increase judicial efficiency.
A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) will publish on May 9, 2018. Please submit comments to ptabnpr2018@uspto.gov within 60 days from the notice of publication.
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