This rule provides that a petitioner may seek leave to file a reply to the preliminary response, but is required to make a showing of good cause.
On June 5, 2019, a conference call was held with Judges Ankenbrand, Jurgovan, McGraw, and Marschall, and respective counsel for the parties.
During the call, Petitioner requested authorization to file a Reply to Patent Owner’s Preliminary Response in each case to address Patent Owner’s allegedly inconsistent claim constructions in district court (set forth in infringement contentions), which, according to Petitioner, bear on the instant proceedings.
In response, Patent Owner argued that its infringement contentions are preliminary in nature, a matter for the district court, and will not be helpful to the Board in construing the disputed claim terms or deciding whether to institute an inter partes review in any of the cases.
Upon consideration of the parties’ positions, we find Petitioner has not established good cause for further briefing and, thus, we deny Petitioner’s request to file Replies to Patent Owner’s Preliminary Responses in each case.