Blog Post

Sep 20, 2016

Shaving Patents Avoid IPR by a Whisker

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Inter Partes Review (IPR) proceedings are limited to prior art challenges for printed prior art. Although prior art typically includes drawings that illustrate physical structures, the description of those drawings may only discuss what is illustrated and omit any details surrounding the distribution of mass or other physical qualities of the objects depicted in the drawings. The PTAB recently discussed the level of detail required to support a prior art challenge to patentability when the prior art omits a substantial physical description of what is depicted in the prior art drawings.

In the case of The Gillette Company, Inc. v. Shavelogic, Inc., Case IPR2016-00699 (September 9, 2016 Decision Denying Institution), the patent in question was drawn to a replaceable “shaving assembly” with a magnetic portion that draws the assembly closer to the handle to help prevent the two structures from coming apart during shaving. A central feature of the patented invention was that the angle formed between a rim surrounding an appendage and the longitudinal axis of inertia of the handle was “from about 10 degrees to 20 degrees.”

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