On August 19, 2015, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) release new proposed amendments to the rules governing Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) trials. The new rules would allow patent owners to provide more robust responses to petitions, including expert testimony. Law360 reached to Finnegan attorney Aaron J. Capron for his thoughts on these changes. He said, “Under the proposed rules, patent owners could include expert testimony about what the patent owner considers to be key elements of the prior art, or raise arguments about claim construction, obviousness or other issues. They could also have an expert weigh in on issues the petitioner didn't raise.” He noted that having arguments addressed by expert testimony can be more credible than if the arguments were presented by attorneys.
