On May 10, 2017, the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) issued a final decision in an inter partes review regarding a petition filed by Minerva Surgical, Inc. (“Petitioner”) over the patentability of claims 1-19 recited in U.S. Patent No. 9,247,989 (“the ‘989 Patent”). The ‘989 Patent, which is owned by Hologic, Inc., is drawn to a moisture transport system for contact electrocoagulation. In the decision, the Board granted the institution of the inter partes review because the Petitioner had established a reasonable likelihood of prevailing with respect to at least 1 of the claims challenged in the petition. The inter partes review remains pending at the Board and is captioned IPR2017-00002.
By: Jacqueline A. DiRamio