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G&B Interference Index

Interference Practice Group

Greenblum & Bernstein's Interference Practice Group effectively and zealously represents clients provoking interferences and litigating interferences before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, United States District Courts and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

An interference is a proceeding before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In its purest sense, an interference is a priority dispute between two or more parties having claims directed to the same invention. However, before reaching the issue of priority of invention, an interference usually involves a preliminary motions period wherein substantive issues of patentability (e.g., 35 U.S.C. §§101, 102, 103, and 112) are determined under the "preponderance of evidence" standard (as compared with the clear and convincing standard for overcoming the presumption of validity of patent claims in an infringement suit). Issues of inequitable conduct are also addressed during the preliminary motions period.

Additionally, interference-specific issues are raised and addressed during the preliminary motions period. These issues include 1) defining the count, 2) addition/substitution of one or more counts 3) designation of claims as corresponding or not corresponding to the count, 4) addition of claims to an opponent's application, 5) amendment of pending application claims, 6) substitution of applications and addition of reissue applications, and 7) declaration of additional interferences. After such issues are resolved and each party has a remaining allowable claim, the proceeding focuses on priority of invention.

Aside from the involved patent and applications, the declaration and resolution of an interference can have profound effects on pending patent applications (i.e., interference estoppel) and district court proceedings, (i.e., overlapping issues of patentability and priority). Nonetheless, interferences are often regarded as grounded in arcane procedures and a "separate" area of patent law. This misperception often leads to missed strategic opportunities and may ultimately preclude a party from later obtaining or challenging claims directed to commercially significant subject matter.

Patent prosecutors and litigators may be unfamiliar with the specific rules governing interference proceedings or may have not been substantively involved in an interference proceeding for many years. Such unfamiliarity with the changing tides of the rules governing interference practice can significantly prejudice a client's strategic position in a given market.

The goal of Greenblum & Bernstein's Interference Practice Group is to provide thorough and effective representation for its clients who are involved in or seek to become involved in an interference proceeding. For additional information concerning the firm's Interference Practice Group, contact Michael J. Fink or Bruce Stoner.