Evidence of "General Association" Insufficient to Justify Real Party in Interest Discovery

The Board denied the patent owner's motion for additional discovery regarding whether the petitioner failed to name a real party in interest. "We deny Patent Owner’s request because Patent Owner’s request amounts to no more than a mere allegation of some kind of general association between Petitioner and [named company]. For example, Patent Owner argues that Petitioner has an equity stake in [the company], that counsel for Petitioner allegedly represents [the company], and that publicly available documents supposedly imply a connection between Petitioner and [the company]. The alleged facts presented by Patent Owner during the conference call do not show more than a mere possibility that something useful will be discovered and are therefore insufficient to show beyond mere speculation that discovery would be in the interests of justice."

Petition for Inter Partes Review by The Mangrove Partners Master Fund, Ltd., IPR2015-01046 (PTAB November 12, 2015, Order) (Siu, APJ)