Precedential Opinion Panel Issues Precedential Decision

The Precedential Opinion Panel (POP) concludes that, at institution, a petitioner must identify with particularity sufficient evidence to establish a reasonable likelihood that an asserted reference was publicly accessible before the critical date of the challenged patent and thus qualifies as a printed publication. Hulu, LLC v. Sound View Innovations, LLC, Case IPR2018-01039 (PTAB Dec. 20, 2019) (Paper 29).

Applying this standard, the POP reverses the panel decision, concluding that, based on the totality of the evidence currently in the record, petitioner submitted sufficient evidence. The POP further clarifies that there is no presumption in favor of institution or in favor of finding that a reference is a printed publication. Learn more about this POP decision on the USPTO website.