On March 6, 2015, McKool Smith, along with co-counsel from EIP, secured three denials of institution of inter partes review for Good Technology Software, Inc. on Good Technology’s patents asserted in district court against AirWatch LLC. This follows a similar order issued on February 20, 2015 denying institution of inter partes review on a fourth asserted Good Technology Patent against AirWatch.
In a landmarkdecision important to patent owners facing challenges before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and concurrent district court litigation, the PTAB agreed with Good Technology that the petitioner, VMware, Inc., was time-barred from filing its petitions under 35 U.S.C. § 315(b). Good Technology successfully countered arguments by VMware that several prior PTAB decisions suggested that privity was to be determined at the time of service of a related complaint for infringement (prior to its relationship with AirWatch) and not the date on which the petition was filed. These rulings bring additional clarity to the law for those considering filing IPR petitions as well as those defending against them.
The case are:
- VMWare, Inc. v. Good Technology Software, Inc.; IPR2015-00027
- VMWare, Inc. v. Good Technology Software, Inc.; IPR2015-00030
- VMWare, Inc. v. Good Technology Software, Inc.; IPR2015-00031
- VMWare, Inc. v. Good Technology Software, Inc.; IPR2014-01324
Click here to access Law360’s recent report on the cases.