Wait . . . Play that again

Patent prosecutors will get a kick out of the relatively new phenomenon of the PTO arguing in favor of patentability.  This occurs whenever the Board of Appeals has ruled against a party that brought an inter partes reexamination.  At that point, the Solicitor’s Office for the PTO is placed in the position of defending the Board’s decision when an appeal is made to the Federal Circuit.

These appeals are now making their way to the Federal Circuit with increasing frequency.  There were at least two such appeals argued at the Federal Circuit last week.

You can listen to the PTO arguing in favor of patentability here:

Vanguard v. Kappos:  [Listen];

Rexnord v. Kappos:   [Listen];

Plasmart v. Kappos:   [Listen];

Vita-Mix v. Kappos:   [Listen];

CW Zumbiel v. Kappos:   [Listen]; and

Sirona Dental Sys. v. Kappos:   [Listen].

So far, the Solicitor’s Office seems to be arguing with the same level of zeal in defending these already issued patents as it does in arguing against the patentability of some applications.  Although, one has yet to see whom I view as the PTO’s designated hitters, Tom Krause and Ray Chen, make an appearance at the podium to argue in favor of patentability.

In the Plasmart appeal, Judge Moore noted the role-reversal for the PTO and asked the Associate Solicitor for the PTO if it felt good to argue in favor of patentability.  He said it did . . . .  [Listen].

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