On November 18, 2015, Neochord, Inc. (“Petitioner”) filed a Petition to the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) for inter partes review of claims 1-23 of U.S. Patent No. 7,635,386 (“the ‘386 Patent”). The ‘386 Patent is drawn to a cardiac procedure that creates an access in an apical region of the heart through which instruments may be inserted to repair a cardiac valve. The ‘386 Patent, which issued on December 22, 2009, is owned by the University of Maryland at Baltimore. In the Petition, Petitioner asserts that claims 1-23 of the ‘386 Patent are anticipated and/or obvious under 35 U.S.C. §§ 102 and/or 103 over various patent and non-patent documents. The inter partes review remains pending at the Board and is captioned IPR2016-00208.
By: Jacqueline A. DiRamio