Patent and Trademark Office May 9, 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (``USPTO'' or ``Office'') proposes changes to the claim construction standard for interpreting claims in inter partes review (``IPR''), post-grant review (``PGR''), and the transitional program for covered business method patents (``CBM'') proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (``PTAB'' or ``Board''). In particular, the Office proposes to replace the broadest reasonable interpretation (``BRI'') standard for construing unexpired patent claims and proposed claims in these trial proceedings with a standard that is the same as the standard applied in federal district courts and International Trade Commission (``ITC'') proceedings. The Office also proposes to amend the rules to add that the Office will consider any prior claim construction determination concerning a term of the involved claim in a civil action, or an ITC proceeding, that is timely made of record in an IPR, PGR, or CBM proceeding.