Ty-Flot, Inc. v. Python Safety, Inc.: Instituting Inter Partes Review
Manchester, New Hampshire (PRWEB) January 24, 2015 -- The United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) Patent Trial and Appeal Board (the “Board”) recently decided that it is instituting inter partes review of all claims of Python Safety, Inc.’s Patent No. 8,646,768 (the “’768 patent”) as having been obvious under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a). The ’768 patent relates to a tethered tool holder made of a flexible material with good gripping power for removably attaching the holder to a tool of various diameters, sizes, and shapes, or to an accessory.
Python previously accused Ty-Flot of infringing the ’768 patent in pending litigation entitled Python Safety, Inc. v. Ty-Flot, Inc., No.1:14-CV-01918-WSD (N.D. Ga.). Ty-Flot responded with its own Answer, Affirmative Defenses, and Counterclaims, filed on September 12, 2014, claiming that it did not infringe the ’768 patent and that the ’768 patent was invalid. On September 12, 2014, Ty-Flot simultaneously filed a petition with the Board requesting inter partes review of the ’768 patent.
The Board’s decision, filed on December 16, 2014, concludes by stating that, “Ty-Flot has demonstrated that a reasonable likelihood exists that it would prevail in establishing the unpatentability of claims 1–16 of the ’768 patent.”
The litigation has been stayed pending the outcome of the inter partes review.
Please contact Ty-Flot or visit http://www.ty-flot.com/ for additional information.
Ty-Flot, Inc. v. Python Saftey, Inc., IPR2014-01489
Paper 7: Decision on Institution of Inter Partes Review
Patent: 8,646,768 B2
Dated: December 16, 2014
Before: Meredith C. Petravick, James P. Calve, and Scott E. Kamholz
Mathew Moreau, Ty-Flot, Inc, http://www.ty-flot.com, +1 603-669-5169, [email protected]
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