The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) has published a request for comments in the Federal Register for a proposed pilot program which would allow for a single Administrative Patent Judge (APJ) to determine whether to institute an inter partes review (IPR), with two additional APJs being assigned to the IPR if a trial were instituted. In its proposal, the USPTO explains that since the 2012 enactment of America Invents Act for post-grant proceedings, “over 3600 petitions have been filed, and over 1,500 trials have been instituted.” Furthermore, “[t]he USPTO has thus far been able to meet the demands placed on its resources created by the unexpectedly heavy workload;” however, it now “believes [that] it is prudent to explore other potentially more efficient options [to review IPR petitions], especially given that the number of petitions filed may continue to increase.” Current rules require a panel of…
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