Recent Successes
September 12, 2014
Fitch Even successfully defended U.S. Patent No. 7,054,830 against a challenge to the validity of its claims via an inter partes review (IPR) proceeding before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patent, owned by Kroy IP Holdings, LLC, relates to systems and methods for operating loyalty programs personalized to individual consumers. The ’830 patent is asserted in separately pending federal court litigation against Safeway, Inc. and The Kroger Co., among others.
Fitch Even opposed the IPR petition on behalf of Kroy IP. On September 11, 2014, in Safeway, Inc. and The Kroger Co. v. Kroy IP Holdings, LLC, the PTAB denied the IPR petition in all respects, finding that it failed to demonstrate a reasonable likelihood that any of the challenged claims would be held invalid under any of several proposed theories.
Fitch Even partner and co-counsel for this matter, Nicholas T. Peters, noted the following:
Some people have claimed that the USPTO’s post-grant proceedings amount to a “patent- killing machine.” This decision denying the trial demonstrates that patent challenges at the USPTO can be defended at the earliest stage. We are pleased that the PTAB recognized the validity of the challenged claims in view of the seven different proposed grounds of invalidity, thereby solidly confirming the strength of this patent.
Mr. Peters was assisted by Fitch Even partner Mark W. Hetzler. The related litigation under the ’830 patent is being led by Fitch Even partners Steven C. Schroer and Timothy P. Maloney.
