SAP prevails in first PTAB post-grant review decision

Finnegan client SAP received a favorable ruling in the first Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB) decision in a post-grant review of a covered business method patent, a proceeding established as part of the America Invents Act. The Board found all of the challenged claims of a patent owned by Versata Software unpatentable under section 101 of the Patent Act. The ruling came just nine months after Finnegan filed the petition on September 16, 2012, the first day the new procedure took effect. The Federal Circuit later affirmed.