An Inside Look at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Scott Boalick

Administrative Patent Judge

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Board Hiring

• Since October 2011– Reviewed nearly 1,500 applicant records– Interviewed nearly 240 candidates– Selected 85 highly qualified candidates to become new

Judges– We stand at 168 Judges as of February 25, 2013.

• Opportunities at Detroit/Denver/Dallas/Silicon Valley Satellite Offices – Selecting candidates from previous postings now– New advertisements have been posted

• Goal for FY2013 - add 60 judges.

Board Hiring

• Selectees have come from the following:– USPTO Patent Examining Corps, Office of

the General Counsel, and the PTAB– International Trade Commission and

Department of Justice– Private Practice (solo to very large)– All types of industries

Board Hiring

Administrative Patent Judge(Biotechnology, Chemical, Mechanical, Communication, Computer, Electrical)

• Announcement Number: PTAB-2013-0006• Questions about this job:

– Isis ThomasPhone: 571-272-4363Email: Isis.Thomas@uspto.gov

• Announcement set to close on Friday, April 19, 2013.

Members of the Board (as of 03/18/2013)

1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 1990 2000 2010 2012 2013 Goal

0

50

100

150

200

250

Judges

Board Backlog

• Growth of the Backlog has been halted:– Overall, for the last 4 months, more decisions issued than

new appeals received– Encouraging (for now)

• Benefiting from numerous factors– Successful hiring in FY2012 that needs to continue in

FY2013– Somewhat lower end-of-year intake for FY2012 and

beginning of FY2013– Extraordinary efforts by current Judges

• Trend can still be reversed if ex parte appeal intake and AIA intake grow faster than new hires

Board Backlog

7/5/

2012

8/5/

2012

9/5/

2012

10/5

/201

2

10/1

6/20

12

10/2

3/20

12

10/3

0/20

12

11/6

/201

2

11/1

3/20

12

11/2

0/20

12

11/2

7/20

12

12/0

4/20

12

12/1

1/20

12

12/1

8/20

12

12/2

5/20

12

01/0

1/20

13

01/0

8/20

13

01/1

5/20

13

01/2

2/20

13

01/2

9/20

13

02/0

5/20

13

02/1

2/20

13

02/1

9/20

13

02/2

6/20

13

03/0

5/20

13

03/1

2/20

13

03/1

9/20

13

26,300

26,400

26,500

26,600

26,700

26,800

26,900

27,000

27,100

27,200

26,80726,832

26,858

26,702

27,029

27,12627,105

26,915

27,05127,023

26,950

26,734

26,89426,859

26,734

26,644

26,786

26,82826,82526,807

26,664

26,85426,86926,896

26,618

26,80226,802

PTAB Receipts and DispositionsPast Month

PTAB Receipts and Dispositions

Period: 02/19/2013 thru 03/19/2013

Discipline # Cases Received # Cases Disposed Difference (Disposed minus Received)

Biotech 78 46 -32

Business Methods 85 96 11

Chemical 157 197 40

Contested Cases 22 25 3

Design 3 0 -3

Electrical 418 470 52

Mechanical 244 379 135

***Totals*** 1007 1213 206

PTAB Receipts and DispositionsWeekly: 01/09/2013 through 03/13/2013

1/9/2013 1/16/2013 1/23/2013 1/30/2013 2/6/2013 2/13/2013 2/20/2013 2/27/2013 3/6/2013 3/13/2013 3/20/2013 Average

-200

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

774 797

727

956

1098 11141084

1136

949

10481007

972

883832

710

882

1099 11191077

1206

1053 1065

1213

1013

109

35

-17-74

1 5

-7

70104

17

206

41

Receipts & Dispositions Summary Report FY2013

Received Disposed Difference

Monthly Receipts and Dispositions – New Judge Comparison

May-12 Jun-12 Jul-12 Aug-12 Sep-12-200

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

961 982 9881062

817834796

741791

891

110150

186235 235

-17 -36 -61 -36

309

Receipts

Experienced Judges

New Judges

Difference

Monthly Receipts and Dispositions – New Judge Comparison

Oct-12 Nov-12 Dec-12 Jan-13 Feb-13-400

-200

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200 1116

841803

1031 1023

575659 624

717675

260310 292

366 359

-281

128 11352

11

Receipts

Experienced Judges

New Judges

Difference

Decisions by Type: FY2013

54%

13%

30%

0%1%

2%

Decisions

AffirmedAffirmed-in-PartReversedPanel RemandAdministrative RemandDismissed

Decisions Adopting Persuasive Arguments Made in the Record

• Allow the Board to issue decisions based on arguments presented by Examiners or Appellants– Shorter decisions; disposed sooner;

sometimes designated “Per Curiam”• Arguments of record must sufficiently explain

the decision• Working with the offices of the Under-Secretary

and Solicitor, the rules were finalized

“Per Curiam” Short Decisionsas of 02/20/2013

21

6

142

47

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

FY2010 FY2011 FY2012 FY2013 (to date)

Per Curiam Decisions

Outcomes at the Federal Circuit

FY2012 FY2013 (to date) Total

Affirmances 67 26 93

Reversals 4 1 5

Remands 10 4 14

Dismissals 12 7 19

Total 93 38 131

Technology Breakdowns of AIA Petitions

TechnologyNumber of Petitions Percentage

Electrical/Computer 140 67.6%

Mechanical 26 12.6%

Chemical 29 14.0%

Bio/Pharma 11 5.3%

Design 1 0.5%

As of April 1, 2013, the Office received a Total of 207 AIA Petitions: 17 CBMs and 190 IPRs

Institutions: 11 CBMs and 34 IPRsTerminations (resulted from settlements): 4 IPRs

17

Post Grant Resources

• General information concerning implementation of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, including post grant reviews, may be found at:

http://www.uspto.gov/aia_implementation/index.jsp

• Information concerning the Board and specific trial procedures may be found at:

http://www.uspto.gov/ip/boards/bpai/index.jsp

Patent Corps Collaboration

• Continuing to explore collaboration opportunities

• Additional Examiner interviews during prosecution

• Additional Examiner review of after-final amendments before coming to the Board

(on-going)

Published Opinions

• Committee established to increase designation of precedential and informative decisions

• Also will post informative orders from AIA proceedings

• Looking at optimizing manner of posting on site

Detroit, Michigan

Elijah J. McCoy United States Patent and Trademark Office

300 River Place SouthSuit 2900

Detroit, Michigan 48207

Opened July 13, 2012

12 Administrative Patent Judges

Denver, Colorado

Denver Federal Center

B20/D1000W 6th Ave & Kipling Street Lakewood, Colorado 80225

Opened January 2, 2013

5 Administrative Patent Judges

Dallas, Texas

Santa Fe Building

1114 Commerce StreetSuite 705

Dallas, TX 75202

Opened March 18, 2013

4 Administrative Patent Judges

Menlo Park, California

????

345 Middlefield RoadMenlo Park, CA 94025

Opening April 15, 2013

6 Administrative Patent JudgesAnd Director Michelle K. Lee