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In inter partes review proceedings it brought for Austrian cochlear implant maker MED-EL Elektromedizinische Geräte Ges.m.b.H., Haug Partners was successful in challenging all 24 claims of U.S. Patent 8,155,746, a cochlear implant-related patent of MED-EL’s competitor Advanced Bionics.
In March 2022, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board already found the claims unpatentable based on a total of three grounds, but rejected another MED-EL reasoning that was based on “applicant admitted prior art” (“AAPA”). Patent and Trademark Office Director Katherine Vidal disagreed with the Board on the AAPA-related ground and ordered the Board to issue a new decision. In a 175-page Final Written Decision of February 3, the Board then determined that all 24 claims of Advanced Bionics’s patent were unpatentable on the basis of MED-EL’s AAPA-related ground, too.
MED-EL was represented by Georg Reitboeck and Brian Murphy of Haug Partners LLP.