Reexam Terminated Based on Prior IPR Discretionary Denial, PTAB Litigation Blog
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The recent denial of petitioner Geotab Inc.’s request for reexamination of U.S. Patent No. 8,810,458 (“’458 Patent”) shows that ex parte reexamination is not an opportunity for a second chance after discretionary denial of inter partes review (“IPR”)—particularly when a challenger simply repackages arguments raised in the discretionarily denied petition for IPR. Many challengers have turned to ex parte reexamination as an alternative to IPR or PGR because it is not subject to the same discretionary denial risk as actions before the PTAB. But this decision shows that the Central Reexam Unit may nonetheless deny a request for reexamination if previously denied grounds are raised again, even of those grounds were previously denied for non-substantive reasons.
