PTAB Bar Association 2021 Appellate Year in Review

The PTAB Bar Association’s Committee on Appeals from the PTAB has released their annual publication Appellate Year in Review. This report summarizes the most important decisions of 2021 involving appeals from the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Sterne Kessler Director Pauline M. Pelletier served as the report’s editor-in-chief for the second consecutive year. As noted by the PTAB Bar, she and the authors “put these decisions into context and discuss their impact on PTAB practice.”

In addition to Pelletier serving as editor-in-chief, six Sterne Kessler attorneys authored or co-authored the following articles:

• Associate* Grace Tuyiringire (with Melissa Brand): “What is prior art and when must it be self-enabling?”
• Associate Kathleen Wills and Director Pauline M. Pelletier: “The PTO in operation: challenges and defenses”
• Directors Jon E. Wright and William H. Milliken: “Can forum selection clauses prohibit challenges in AIA trials?”
• Director Richard M. Bemben: “More reviewability questions answered, still more remain”
• Director Pauline M. Pelletier: “By the numbers: appeals from the PTAB to the Federal Circuit”

The report can be accessed by PTAB Bar Association members only here.

*Currently admitted in California only. Practicing under the supervision of D.C. Bar members.