USPTO designates discretionary considerations decisions as precedential and informative
Today, the USPTO designated four decisions as precedential and nine decisions as informative. These decisions by the Director involve determining whether or not to deny a petition for inter partes review (IPR) or post-grant review (PGR) based on discretionary considerations.
The following decisions have been designated as precedential:
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LifeVac LLC v. DCSTAR Inc., IPR2025-00454, Paper 11 (Director July 11, 2025). In this decision, the Director declined to exercise discretion to deny institution of an IPR petition where the petitioner filed an earlier petition for PGR that was denied institution.
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Multi-Color Corporation v. Brook & Whittle Ltd., PGR2025-00025, Paper 10 (Director July 16, 2025). In this decision, the Director declined to exercise discretion to deny institution of a PGR petition, explaining that PGRs are favored.
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Realtek Semiconductor Corp. v. ParkerVision, Inc., IPR2025-00324, Paper 11 (Director June 25, 2025). In this decision, the Director exercised discretion to deny institution, explaining that petitions filed by time-barred parties should proceed only in exceptional circumstances.
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Elong International USA Inc. v. Feit Electric Company, Inc., IPR2025-00258, Paper 16 (Director June 25, 2025). In this decision, the Director exercised discretion to deny institution where the petitioner filed a copycat petition and motion for joinder to a pending IPR, explaining that discretionary considerations are first reviewed for the petition on its own, and then reviewed if joinder were to be granted.
The following decisions have been designated as informative and set forth factual circumstances supporting discretionary denial of a petition or supporting consideration of a petition on the merits:
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Savant Techs. LLC d/b/a GE Lighting v. Feit Electric Co., Inc., IPR2025-00260, Paper 16 (Director June 12, 2025)
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Tesla, Inc. v. Intellectual Ventures II LLC, IPR2025-00217, Paper 9 (Director June 13, 2025)
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Dabico Airport Solutions Inc. v. AXA Power ApS, IPR2025-00408, Paper 21 (Director June 18, 2025)
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Padagis US LLC v. Neurelis, Inc., IPR2025-00464, Paper 12 (Director July 16, 2025)
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Amgen Inc. v. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., IPR2025-00601, Paper 9 (Director July 24, 2025)
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Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. v. H2 Intellect LLC, IPR2025-00480, Paper 11 (Director Sept. 4, 2025)
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Apple Inc. v. Ferid Allani, IPR2025-00856, Paper 11 (Director Sept. 5, 2025)
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Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc. v. Nivagen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., IPR2025-00893, Paper 18 (Director Sept. 19, 2025)
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Alliance Laundry Systems, LLC v. PayRange LLC, IPR2025-00950, Paper 11 (Director Sept. 19, 2025)
Learn more about these precedential and informative decisions.
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