Post-grant review is a patent post-grant proceeding, and becomes available immediately after patent issuance. It is applicable to patents subject to the AIA’s first-inventor-to-file provisions, and is designed to be concluded quickly. Typically, a post-grant review proceeding is completed within one year of its commencement. When the Director of the U.S. Patent Office shows sufficient cause, the post-grant review proceeding can be completed within eighteen months of its commencement. Post-grant review proceedings are initially handled by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) as a trial proceeding. A decision of the PTAB can be immediately appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”).
To initiate post-grant review, a petition must be filed within nine months after a patent grant or reissuance. The petition needs to establish that “more likely than not” at least one challenged claim is unpatentable, or that a novel or unsettled legal question that is important to other patents or patent applications is raised. Patents, published patent applications, printed publications, public use, on-sale activity and other public disclosures can be based on as evidence for post-grant patent review.
If you have a question about patent post grant opposition proceedings, please feel free to reach out to us via telephone or email. You may also fill out our online inquiry form and we will strive to get back to you within 24 hours.