USPTO’s Evolved View on Patent Challenges Will Transform Global Strategies

Sterne Kessler Director William Milliken spoke to MLex on developments at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the effects those changes could have on patent validity challenges.

Milliken noted that the USPTO’s AIA changes have unfolded in a way that “has caused a lot of uncertainty, for a lot of people.”

He continued, “I can see parties who want to challenge patents thinking about ex partes reexamination as an alternative. If we see a resurgence in those, that could give rise to some pretty interesting issues — moving the post-grant battlefield to the central reexamination unit and away from the PTAB.”