This article was reprinted with permission from Law360.
In inter partes review proceedings, petitioners are required to indicate how the challenged claims are to be construed.[1] For many claim terms, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board generally permits petitioners to provide “a simple statement” concerning the applicable claim construction standard in lieu of express constructions.[2] When it comes to means-plus-function claim terms, however, petitioners are required to provide explicit claim constructions of such terms.[3] As discussed below, recent institution decisions have turned on the PTAB’s assessment of means-plus-function claim terms.
Click here to read the recent decisions and view the full Law360 article.