Summary: The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is re-examining key remote monitoring patents after Grin challenged Dental Monitoring’s claims in an ongoing lawsuit. The Patent Office found substantial new questions of patentability, and the judge granted Grin a stay, pausing Dental Monitoring’s lawsuit pending the outcome of the review.

Key Takeaways

  • Patent Re-examination: The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is re-evaluating patents due to Grin’s challenge, suggesting potential issues with the original patent grants.
  • Legal Pause: The judge has halted Dental Monitoring’s lawsuit, awaiting the Patent Office’s findings.
  • Broad Implications: The review could affect the validity of several patents, possibly impacting innovation and competitive dynamics in the remote monitoring industry.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office agreed to re-examine key patents related to remote monitoring in Grin’s ongoing lawsuit with Dental Monitoring. With the Patent Office review ongoing, the judge in the case agreed to grant Grin a full stay.

Questions of Patentability

Grin’s representation, Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox, announced that the Patent Office has granted three of its reexamination requests for its client in its defense of patent litigations brought by Dental Monitoring, a competitor of Grin.

The Patent Office determined that each of Grin’s requests raised “substantial new questions of patentability” as to whether Dental Monitoring’s patents should have been issued in the first place.

DentalMonitoring Patents in Question

The latest order involved a patent that covers using AI to analyze photographs of a patient’s teeth. Dental Monitoring asserted the patent—along with three others—against Grin in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

Through its requests, Grin’s lawyers were able to successfully show 20 substantial new questions of patentability—meaning that the patents cover inventions that may not be new after all. The Patent Office has also concluded that a similar petition filed by another competitor on the fourth patent that Dental Monitoring asserted against Grin has a reasonable likelihood of success, according to Grin’s representation.

Circuit Judge William Bryson ruled to halt Dental Monitoring’s lawsuit against Grin to allow the Patent Office time to review the validity of Dental Monitoring’s patents.