MVS Attorneys Successful in Fighting Institution of Inter Partes ReviewSeptember 28, 2020

MVS is proud to announce that it was successful in fighting the institution of Inter Partes Review (IPR) for its client Putco, owner of Patent No. 9,995,473. IPR is a third-party challenge to a patent’s validity and is heard before the Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB) at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). To determine whether Shenzhen Aurora Technology Co.’s petition for IPR could be heard on a substantive basis, the PTAB had to first decide whether there was merit to “institute” the petition for IPR.

Putco’s patent covers LED conversion kits that have flexible heat sinks. The flexible heat sink can be made from a braided metal fabric. Putco currently sells a version of the protected product under the name Nitro-Lux Pro Zero. To better help consumers identify Putco’s legitimate product from counterfeited ones, Putco has uniquely dyed its copper heat sinks blue.

Based on their review of the information presented by the attorneys at MVS, the PTAB denied institution of Aurora’s request for IPR at the earliest opportunity to do so, stating “there are significant questions as to the accuracy of the submitted translations and whether the ’529 patent qualifies as prior art based on its alleged publication date.” Based on this ruling, Putco’s patent remains valid.

The winning team from MVS included Jonathan L. Kennedy, Glenn L. Johnson, Gregory Lars Gunnerson, and Nicholas J. Krob.

About Putco:

Putco is a small Iowa business that designs and manufactures automotive based products that it sells throughout the United States. Putco has been operating for more than 48 years. Over this time, Putco has obtained 50 issued patents that cover their products.

Richard Marsolais is the Business Development Director at MVS.  To learn more, visit our MVS website, or contact Rich directly via email.