Ryan J. McBrayer Partner

Ryan McBrayer, Andrew Culbert and Tyler Bowen explore the licensing battle that may serve as a harbinger of things to come in this second article in a four-part series relating to a recent shift in the smartphone industry from traditional patent infringement litigation to antitrust and fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) disputes.

Smartphone litigation continues to rage on in new battlegrounds involving standards-essential patents and competition law.

Since inter partes review (IPR) proceedings were implemented in September 2012, they have become an attractive supplement to district court litigation for contesting the validity of a patent.

The U.S. Patent Office’s Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB) has recently changed the way it interprets a crucial requirement for initial petitions for Inter Partes and Covered Business Method Reviews.