Wi-Fi One, LLC

The Federal Circuit has held that patent owners may appeal rulings on the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s statutory time bar for inter partes review (IPR), under which the Board may not institute trial more than one year after a petitioner is sued for infringement. In an opinion issued on January 8 in Wi-Fi One v. Broadcom, the Federal Circuit held that the statutory bar on appellate review for institution decisions from 35 USC Section 314(d) does not apply to Section 315(b), which governs the time bar, holding that Congress did not “clearly and convincingly indicate its intent to prohibit judicial review”. Circuit Judge Todd M. Hughes dissented, arguing that the majority opinion interprets Section 314(d) too narrowly and is inconsistent with the US Supreme Court’s decision in Cuozzo Speed Technologies v. Lee.

Among the patent assignments recorded during the first week of November were multiple transfers from Intellectual Ventures LLC (IV)—two to affiliates of IP Valuation Partners LLC (d/b/a IPVal) (which currently has multiple ongoing campaigns asserting former IV patents), and one to a new NPE with an apparent connection to Cotman IP. The week also saw the recording of transactions between IQ Holdings, LLC and IPVal; Panasonic and PanOptis Equity Holdings LLC; and Microsoft and General Patent Corporation.

In the second half of March 2016, RPX saw twelve patent transfers to known NPEs recorded with the USPTO. Several of those transactions involved patents that have already been asserted in litigation against operating companies.