U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Acting Director Coke Morgan Stewart has provided additional information on the Office’s Interim Processes for Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Workload Management in an attempt to address unspecified questions the agency has been receiving about the new procedure. Stewart sent a memorandum to all PTAB Administrative Patent Judges (APJs) last week detailing the new interim process for workload management. According to the memo, to ensure the PTAB can continue to meet its statutory obligations relating to ex parte appeals, the Director will exercise her discretion under 35 U.S.C. 314(a) and 324(a) to determine whether discretionary denial is appropriate for any petition for inter partes review (IPR) or post-grant review (PGR).

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