VPATAPP Alert_Introducing IPRs as the De Facto Administrative Claim Construction (ACC) Procedure

https://patentlyo.com/patent/2018/05/introducing-administrative-construction.html

The combination of (1) the USPTO’s new proposed court-like claim-construction for IPRs and (2) the Supreme Court’s SAS decision collectively provides some opportunity for a de facto administrative claim construction procedure.  It is likely that a substantial portion of IPR participants will now be focused as much on claim construction as on the underlying validity arguments themselves.  Although this is already going on to some extent, once the courts and PTO apply the same standard of law, PTAB claim construction determinations could then be taken as decided issues of law (or at least highly persuasive authority) handed back for the stayed (or upcoming) district court litigation.