PTAB Brews a Denial That Should Wake Up All Patent Practitioners

The PTAB recently affirmed their earlier denial to institute an Inter Partes Review (IPR) because the original Petition did not sufficiently prove that hotels provide coffee makers in hotel rooms. In Hamilton Beach v. Courtesy Products, Case IPR2014-01260, September 2, 2015 (Motion for Reconsideration denied), Hamilton Beach filed a Motion for Reconsideration of an earlier decision to deny institution of the IPR. Specifically, Courtesy Products owns a patent related to single-serving coffee makers provided within a hotel or “lodging establishment.” The Board denied the first Petition because Hamilton Beach cited only “relevant hospitality regulations” or expert declarations for disclosure of the lodging establishment limitations, and had not sufficiently explained the expert declaration cites in the petition.

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