The Clock Strikes Out: Realtek’s Copycat Petition Falls to Statutory Time Bar

In Realtek Semiconductor Corp. v. ParkerVision, Inc., IPR2025-00324, -00325, Paper 11 (PTAB June 25, 2025), Acting USPTO Director Coke Morgan Stewart discretionarily denied Realtek’s copycat petition and motion to join Texas Instruments’ instituted petition because Realtek filed its petition after the statutory time-bar date and no exceptional circumstances existed.

Realtek filed the copycat petition on December 24, 2024—a mere five days after the PTAB instituted Texas Instruments’ petition. The filing occurred after “Realtek’s statutory deadline to file a petition” under § 315(b), which “expired on September 28, 2024, i.e., one year after service of [ParkerVision’s infringement] complaint.” However, Realtek complied with 37 CFR § 42.122, which requires joinder requests to be filed “no later than one month after the institution date of any inter partes review for which joinder is requested.” This regulation further explains that the “time period set forth in § 42.101(b)”—i.e., the one-year time-bar date outlined in § 315(b)— “shall not apply when the petition is accompanied by a request for joinder.”

Consistent with § 42.122, the Acting Director commented that “315(b) permits time-barred parties to file a petition when seeking joinder under § 315(c).” However, the Acting Director denied institution finding “ParkerVision’s equity arguments [that Realtek is time-barred] persuasive” and because Realtek failed to “present an exceptional circumstance.”

Takeaway: Petitioners seeking to file copycat petitions should consider filing before the § 315(b) time-bar date.