First PGR filed: LaRose Indus. v. Choon’s Design (PGR2014-00008)
On August 5, 2014, third party petitioner LaRose Industries, LLC filed a post-grant review petition of U.S. Patent No. 8,684,420 B2 (“Brunnian Link Making Device and Kit”) owned by Choon’s Design Inc. This has been assigned by the PTAB as PGR2014-00008.
For a PGR to be instituted, the patent has to be an AIA patent, meaning the priority of the patent has to be March 16, 2013 or later. The priority of the US ‘420 patent is challenged in the petition, where LaRose asserts that the patent has a priority date of the filing date and not to any previous continuation or continuation-in-part application.
Upon searching PGR2014-00001 through PGR2014-00007 on the USPTO’s portal, it appears that all of these filings were for the transitional program for covered business methods (CBM), and not regular PGR.
Further, the claims of US ‘420 are mechanical in nature, and not directed to a covered business method. Here is independent claim 1 of the patent:
1. A device for creating an item consisting of a series of links, the device comprising:
a base; anda plurality of pins supported on the base, wherein each of the plurality of pins includes a top portion for holding a link in a desired orientation and an opening on at least one side of each of the plurality of pins, wherein the plurality of pins comprises rows of offset pins spaced apart and extending upward from the base.
Thus, this appears to be the first PGR filed.
A copy of the petition can be found here