No Do-Overs: PTAB Denies Motion for Sanctions as Untimely, PTAB Litigation Blog
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In MG Freesites Ltd v. Scorpcast, LLC, the PTAB recently denied a Petitioner’s request to file a Motion for Sanctions for alleged misconduct by the Patent Owner during depositions because the Petitioner did not raise the issue in a timely fashion with the Board. IPR2021-00510, Paper 27 (March 25, 2022). The Petitioner took the depositions in question on January 13 and 14, 2022. Paper 27 at 3. The Petitioner then filed a Reply to the Patent Owner’s Response on January 28, stating in the reply that the inventors “repeatedly dodged questions related to their invention and purported conception and reduction-to-practice.” Id. The Petitioner did not argue for or seek any sanctions in the Response. Id. It was not until February 18 that the Petitioner first raised the issue of sanctions. Id. at 2. The Petitioner then served a proposed Motion for Sanctions on the Patent Owner on March 1st and sought the Board’s authorization to file the motion on March 22. Id. at 3.
