Takeaway: If a due date that is stipulated by the parties falls on a federal holiday or weekend, the filing must be filed on that date, not on the next business day, in order to be timely.

In its Final Written Decision, the Board found that all of the challenged claims (1, 4-6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 38, 41-44, 46, 47, and 49) of the ’384 Patent are unpatentable. The ’384 Patent proposes to solve problems relating to current flux around tissue treated by electrosurgery and tissue heating. The Board began by construing the claims according to their broadest reasonable interpretation in light of the specification. The Board had provided constructions for various terms of the challenged claims in its Decision on Institution. Petitioner agreed with those constructions, but Patent Owner disagreed with the construction of the term “perforated.” Patent Owner argued that the phrase “to permit the release of steam during use” should be ignored in construing a limitation that includes the word “perforated” because it describes the function of the perforations. The Board disagreed. Patent Owner also argued that “perforations” do not include “passages,” but the Board found that Patent Owner had not explained adequately why a perforation excludes a passage. Continue reading →