Patent Landscape Shifts as Squires Takes on Key PTAB Role

Jackie Bonilla, director in Sterne Kessler’s Biotechnology & Chemical and Trial & Appellate Practice Groups, recently spoke to Law360 on the announcement out of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that Director John Squires will now make all institution decisions.

As a former Patent Trial and Appeal Board Deputy Chief Judge, Bonilla emphasized this change “is a really big deal. That cannot be overstated.”

USPTO directors have been able to review the board’s decisions but, “we have never seen a director involve themselves personally in this way in the first instance,” Bonilla stated.

Squires stated he plans to issue “summary notices” in most cases rather than the detailed rulings that the board would issue explaining their decision whether to institute review. Bonilla explains, “I think it’s going to create a lot of uncertainty, because people won’t understand why the office is making the decisions that they’re making, and they won’t know how to proceed.”

For more information on the USPTO’s announcement, see Sterne Kessler’s recent client alert: USPTO Proposes New IPR Rules; Director to Handle Institution Decisions.