Bloomberg Law
sought out Banner Witcoff attorney Scott M. Kelly for his
insights on an April 3 order announcing that the Precedential Opinion Panel
(POP) will review the requirements for printed publications at the institution
stage.

POP said it would reconsider the Patent Trial and Appeal
Board’s (PTAB) decision to deny a petitioner’s request to review a patent
involving data processing, according to the Bloomberg
article, which goes on to note a POP decision could set new precedent for when
printed publications qualify as prior art.

Scott explained that POP, which launched in 2018, could be “looking
for a vehicle to lay out comprehensive guidelines for using non-patent
literature because of all the activity last year at the Federal Circuit.”

The article, “Hulu
Patent Bid Opens Doors for New Prior Art Precedent,” is available online to
subscribers.