A Possible Solution to the Interregnum Problem¹

By Charles L. Gholz² and Lisa M. Mandrusiak ³

INTRODUCTION

In Gholz and Mandrusiak, Will PTAB Decisions in Interferences Declared After September 15, 2012 Be Reviewable in Court?, 19 Intellectual Property Today No. 12 (December 2012) at page 32, the authors of this article concluded that, under the law as it then existed, such decisions would likely not be reviewable under either 35 USC 141 (appeal to the Federal Circuit) or 35 USC 146 (civil action in a district court). In Gholz and Mandrusiak, Will PTAB Decisions in Interferences Declared After September 15, 2012 But Before Enactment of the AIA Technical Amendments Act Be Reviewable Via Petitions for Extraordinary Writs or Actions Under the APA?, 20 Intellectual Property Today No. 2 (February 2013) at page 32, we concluded that, while the AIA Technical Amendments Act, ⁴ which was enacted on January 14, 2013, provided that decisions in interferences declared after that date would be reviewable under either 35 USC 141 or 35 USC 146, decisions in interferences declared after September 15, 2012 and before January 14, 201...