On February 19, 2019, the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) instituted an inter partes review (“IPR) Petition filed by Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (“Petitioner”).
In IPR2018-01703, the Petitioner challenged claims 1, 2, 6, and 10-13 of U.S. Patent No. 8,616,431 (“the ‘431 Patent”) as anticipated under 35 U.S.C. § 102 and claims 1-7, 10-14, 16-20, and 23-26 as obvious under 35 U.S.C. § 103. The Board instituted trial on all challenged claims and grounds and rejected Ethicon LLC’s (“Patent Owner”) argument that the petition should be denied under 35 U.S.C. § 325(d).
The ‘431 Patent is owned by Ethicon LLC and is drawn to a drive interface for robotically controlled surgical tools. The inter partes review remains pending at the Board.
By: April Breyer Menon