Stay Pending Inter Partes Review May Apply Only to Parties Stipulating to Litigation Estoppel

The court ordered additional briefing following plaintiff's submission of its unopposed motion to stay pending inter partes review. "The PTO has not yet acted on the petitions [for inter partes review]. . . . Fact discovery is complete. . . . The parties appear to agree that the litigation estoppel provided by statute would only apply against [the defendant who submitted the petition for inter partes review], and that it may only be effective after all appeals of the PTO’s decision are exhausted. The Court indicated that it believes that granting a stay at this point in the proceedings may not save much effort unless all parties to the stay are bound by the outcome of the inter partes review. One defendant indicated that it was willing to stipulate to be so bound. The Court agreed to give the other defendants time to consider the issue before the Court rules on the instant motion, as the Court is considering a stay that applies only to the parties who would be bound by the outcome of the inter partes review."

Achates Reference Publishing, Inc. v. Symantec Corporation, et. al., 2-11-cv-00294 (TXED April 5, 2013, Order) (Payne, M.J.).