Sughrue has continued its successful defense of Standard Essential Patents (SEPs), securing another victory in an inter partes review petition filed by Unified Patents’ SEP Zone.  The challenged patent, owned by Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Kwangwoon University, and Sejong University, is recognized as essential to the HEVC, AV1, and VP9 video compression standards.  In denying Unified’s petition, the PTAB agreed with Patent Owners that “Petitioner does not adequately address the significant differences between [the art], including inter prediction, and the claimed invention” and that “Petitioner… does not adequately explain how and why a person of ordinary skill would have combined [the art] to arrive at the claimed invention without improper hindsight.”

Sughrue attorneys Fadi N. Kiblawi, William H. Mandir and John F. Rabena represented Patent Owners at the PTAB.

Link to the decision, issued July 16, 2021.