Gordon & Rees partners Howard Shipley and Reid Dammann obtained an infrequently received outcome in an Inter Partes Review by the Patent Trial Appeal Board (PTAB). On, April 20, 2016, the PTAB decided to not institute an Inter Partes Review (IPR) for a patent owned by a Gordon & Rees client, The Green Pet Shop Enterprises, LLC. During the last three fiscal years, the PTAB has been granting petitions to institute IPRs at rates between approximately 65 to 85 percent
In October 2015, a petition for IPR was filed alleging that certain claims of U.S. Patent No. 8,720,218 were not patentable. Gordon & Rees partners, Shipley and Dammann, successfully fought the petition which was filed by Maze Innovations, Inc. Through the partners’ persuasive argument, the PTAB found that the Petitioner failed to establish a reasonable likelihood that it would prevail on its challenge to the validity of the patent claims. The IPR proceeding is related to a patent infringement litigation pending in the Northern District of Illinois, in which, The Green Pet Shop Enterprises, LLC has alleged that Maze Innovations is selling products that infringe U.S. Patent No. 8,720,218.