Takeaway: The Board is willing to join proceedings for multiple petitioners where the petitions are substantively identical with declarations from the same expert witness, especially where the petitioners as a group agree to follow the page limit requirements for a single party.

In its Order, the Board set filing deadlines for the motions and opposition, and clarified other joinder concerns with regard to motions for joinder to be filed by five petitioners to join petitions filed by another Petitioner. Patent Owner requested a conference call with the Board and six Petitioners that had each filed a number of petitions challenging seven of Patent Owner’s patents. The petitions had been filed with the intent to seek joinder with Intel’s 25 proceedings challenging those seven patents. The parties confirmed that the Joinder Petitions are substantively identical to the Intel Petitions, including the same asserted grounds of unpatentability and the same declarations from the same expert witness. Petitioners also agreed to consolidated filings and discovery subject to the rules for one party on page limits and deposition time. Patent Owner also wanted the Board to restrict the parties from filing any additional petitions on its patents. The Board indicated that Patent Owner can argue that in its opposition to joinder, but that it would not make such a restriction at this time. The Board further requested that the last of the motions for joinder be filed within ten business days, and authorized Patent Owner to file oppositions to those motions for joinder within ten business days of the filings of the Motions for Joinder, so that the Board can decide all of the motions at once.

Intel Corp. v. Zond, LLC, IPR2014-00443
Paper 13: Order on Conduct of the Proceedings
Dated: August 5, 2014
Patent 7,147,759 B2
Before: Kevin F. Turner, Debra K. Stephens, Joni Y. Chang, Susan L. C. Mitchell, and Jennifer M. Meyer
Written by: Chang