The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) now allows “individuals to anonymously nominate any routine decision of the Board for designation as precedential or informative.” (Click here for PTAB Decision Nomination form.)

The ability to make an anonymous submission may lead to an increase in precedential and informative designations as individuals that represent both patent owners and petitioners will be able to nominate decisions on an anonymous basis. An increase in precedential and informative designations should lead to better consistency, uniformity, and predictability in how the PTAB decides issues that may arise in PTAB proceedings (e.g., inter partes review and post-grant review).