Finnegan secures a non-institution decision at the PTAB for client iFLY Holdings LLC

Finnegan client iFLY Holdings LLC (iFly) served Indoor Skydiving Germany GMBH (ISG) with a complaint in the Eastern District of Texas, alleging infringement of its patent directed to vertical wind tunnels used for simulated skydiving. ISG then petitioned the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) to institute an inter partes review (IPR) of iFly’s patent claims as anticipated and obvious in view of several references. Finnegan secured a total non-institution win for iFly through arguments raised in its patent owner’s preliminary response, including that ISG failed to demonstrate the references it cited against iFly’s patent were prior art printed publications, that other prior art did not teach or suggest claim features relating to the staging area of the vertical wind tunnel, and that ISG did not provide adequate reasoning to support its obviousness grounds. The PTAB denied institution on all grounds, concluding that the petition failed to show a reasonable likelihood of success that any challenged claim was unpatentable.