Transitional Program for Covered Business Method Patents

Overview
Section 18 of the America Invents Act (AIA provides that the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is to "issue regulations establishing and implementing a transitional post-grant review proceeding for review of the validity of covered business method patents."

A person may not file a petition for a transitional proceeding with respect to a covered business method patent unless the person or the person's real party in interest or privy has been sued for infringement of the patent or has been charged with infringement under that patent.

A petitioner in a transitional proceeding who challenges the validity of one or more claims in a covered business method patent may support such contention only on the basis of &mdash;


 * (i) prior art that is described by section 102(a) of Title 35; or
 * (ii) prior art that &mdash;
 * (I) discloses the invention more than one year before the date of the application for patent in the United States; and
 * (II) would be described by section 102(a) of such title if the disclosure had been made by another before the invention thereof by the patent applicant), that the claim is invalid on any ground that the petitioner raised during that transitional proceeding.