Opinion ID: 4524477
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Inter Partes Review of

Text: U.S. Patent No. RE43,990 On April 30, 2014, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) petitioned the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) for inter partes review of claims 11, 74, and 81 of Golden’s U.S. Patent No. RE43,900. The Board instituted review on October 8, 2014. During this proceeding, Golden filed, pro se, a Patent Owner Response and Motion to Amend. The Board held a conference call with the parties following this filing, and informed Golden that it was unclear whether his Motion to Amend was contingent on the Board finding the challenged claims unpatentable. SAppx2434–36. The Board informed Golden that, if his Motion to Amend was non-contingent, he was “in essence, abandoning the claims at issue, and saying that we should only look at the claims as amended in the Motion to Amend.” SAppx2436. The Board also “urge[d]” Golden “to retain new counsel because of the possible consequences of this proceeding, as well as its very technical nature.” SAppx2437. In response, Golden again filed his Patent Owner Response, as well as two separate Motions to Amend, which the Board treated “in the collective as a single motion to amend.” SAppx2512. On February 3, 2015, the Board held another teleconference, and confirmed with Golden that his Motion to Amend was, indeed, non-contingent. According to the Board, Golden confirmed “that he is abandoning the claims on which trial was instituted.” SAppx2512. The Board issued its final written decision on October 1, 2015. It Case: 19-2134 Document: 37 Page: 6 Filed: 04/10/2020 6 GOLDEN v. UNITED STATES granted Golden’s non-contingent request to cancel the original claims. It also found that Golden had failed to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that his proposed substitute claims were patentable over the prior art. SAppx2547. Golden did not appeal the Board’s final written decision, but is currently petitioning the Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) (through counsel) to strike the Inter Partes Review Certificate as an ultra vires agency action. In that petition, Golden argues that, under the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Return Mail, Inc. v. U.S. Postal Serv., 139 S. Ct. 1853 (2019), a government agency may not petition for IPR. SAppx2600–02.