On January 26, 2024, Manny Caixeiro was quoted in Law360 on the complexities presented in the aftermath of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) recent invalidity rulings. According to the article, a recent case may serve as evidence that the PTAB’s decisions finding patents invalid do not automatically prevent a district court from holding a trial on the same matter.
Law360 suggests that such a scenario could raise some challenging legal issues. Caixeiro believes this issue will becoming increasingly common, also sharing concerns regarding efficiency. He explained that “holding a trial after the board has found patents invalid can be expensive and burdensome for the court and the parties.” Caixeiro also noted that holding a trial might be suitable when the parties are direct competitors due to the direct impact on market shares.
He also touched on appeal complications, which Caixeiro said “can get even more convoluted if the patent has been successfully challenged at the board by a different company than the one facing trial in district court, and if there are multiple infringement trials involving different companies.”
Looking ahead, Caixeiro explained what will happen in the aftermath of district courts holding trials following PTAB rulings.
“You can see it coming,” he said. “There is going to be a day soon where these inconsistencies are really difficult to resolve. The courts are going to have to address it after the fact, and that's less than ideal."
Click here to access the article.