IPR Institution Decision Addressing Priority Date Entitled To No Deference​

The court denied defendant's motion for summary judgment that a patent-in-suit was not entitled to the filing date of the provisional application on the ground that the application did not disclose certain limitations as determined by the PTAB. "[Defendant] contends that the Court should apply substantial deference to the findings of the [PTAB], which at one point concluded that the provisional application did not disclose the offset band limitations and therefore the priority date of the [patent-in-suit] was its filing date. . . . [N]either party is appealing or directly challenging through some other statutory mechanism a decision by the PTAB. Therefore the cases cited by [defendant] do not require the Court to defer to the PTAB's findings. Further, the PTAB made this finding regarding the [patent] priority date in an order setting out its decision on a request by [defendant] to institute inter partes review. . . . The Federal Circuit has indicated that even the PTAB itself is not bound by findings it makes in decisions to institute inter partes review. . . . [Plaintiff] has now provided the Court with an expert declaration that impacts the determination of the priority date. The Court therefore declines to defer to the PTAB's preliminary determination on this issue."

Riddell, Inc. v. Kranos Corporation d/b/a Schutt Sports, 1-16-cv-04496 (ILND May 30, 2017, Order) (Kennelly, USDJ)