`Discretionary Denials
`
`Jl4y 24. 2020
`
`By Scott McKilown on July 24, 2020
`Dela-euee
`Slipping 4-6 Mon\h{l
`The practice of
`denying AIA trial
`petitions in view of
`competing district
`court 1ria1 dates
`has brought .lmll.ll.
`.ugetive aJtenPon
`1D tbe P!ltl!nt Trial
`&A!;!pulBoard
`fPTABl qycr the
`past few months.
`At the same time,
`patent litigation
`has increased over
`thefimttwo
`quarters of the
`~by 20%. This surge has been greatly aided by the explndjng RQpuJority oftbe We§tem
`District ofTep~ CWDTXl with nop-pm!'Jjcjpg entitia
`B. district that the PTAB is
`increasiJJgly deferring to in its disaetionary denials based upon competing trial dates.
`
`While Pamrt Owners are quick to point to a looming district court trial date as being set in
`stDne, in reality. these dates are ofu:n reset once the PTAB hurdle is cleared.
`While still a sman data set. cases that are denied by the PTAB based upon a looming trial date
`have seen significant delays in some districts.
`
`For example, in the patent suit heavy Diatrict: of Delaware, 100% of the cases denied by the
`PI'AB for an earlier trial date have been rescheduled- anywhere from 4-6 months. This is a
`significant delay that may militate in favor of institution gi:Yen the relative speed of an 8-
`month PTAB trial schedule:
`
`RingCentral Ex-1014, p. 1
`RingCentral v. Estech
`IPR2021-00574
`
`
`
`D. Del.: Average and Maximum Days Triai"Siid"
`
`166
`
`138
`
`180
`
`160
`
`140
`
`120
`
`100
`
`80
`
`60
`
`40
`
`20
`
`0
`
`D. Del. Average
`
`D. Del. Maximum
`
`In the WDTX., 70% of tri.al. dat:rs illitialJy relied upon by the PTAB to deey petitions have slid.
`While WDTX. shows a lower average delay, this is likely a due to that court's preference to
`pUBh out dates on a recurring basis rather than more significant schedule remodels.
`
`45
`
`40
`
`35
`
`30
`
`25
`
`20
`
`15
`
`10
`
`5
`
`0
`
`W.O. Tex.: Average and Maximum Days Triai"Siid"
`
`42
`
`23
`
`W.O. Tex. Average
`
`W.O. Tex. Maximum
`
`RingCentral Ex-1014, p. 2
`RingCentral v. Estech
`IPR2021-00574
`
`
`
`Taking all districts into account the average trial delay is 3 months, with a maximum of 7
`months. That said, with COVID-19 delaying trials scheduled for the last 4-5 months, delays
`will certainly increase further as the courts work through their growing backlog.
`
`In the meantime, as one PTAB panel explained it, the PTAB has been firing on all cylinders.
`
`3/3
`
`RingCentral Ex-1014, p. 3
`RingCentral v. Estech
`IPR2021-00574
`
`