Daniel Moffett Quoted in The Texas Lawbook on Patent Trial and Appeal Board
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Daniel Moffett, senior counsel in Akin Gump’s intellectual property practice, was quoted in the article “Is PTAB a Patent ‘Death Squad?’” in The Texas Lawbook, which examines the frequency with which the Patent Trial and Appeal Board invalidates patents.
The article reports that the PTAB was formed nearly four years ago as an alternative to litigating the validity of patents. Soon thereafter, the moniker of “death squads” was given by the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to the three-member panels of administrative judges who decide the fate of patents because of their propensity to rule against them.
Moffett, however, said he has not seen any evidence that PTAB judges are biased against patents, noting, “I have found PTAB judges to be extremely knowledgeable about the subject matter of the proceedings, and quick to ask tough questions to both sides during the oral argument.” He added that patent owners do face an “uphill climb in PTAB proceedings. But I believe this is due to the PTAB’s standards of review and claim construction, not any bias on the part of the judges.”
