Recent decisions by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) have given state entities a green light to use sovereign immunity as a defense in Inter Parties Review (IPR) proceedings in certain scenarios.  The first decision from the PTAB, which came earlier this year, resulted in three IPR petitions filed by Covidien LP being dismissed before institution based on sovereign immunity of the patent holder University of Florida Research Foundation Inc. (UFRF) (IPR2016-01274, -01275, and -01276).  The PTAB first found that sovereign immunity was available as a defense to IPRs.  The Board then concluded that, because UFRF was an arm… Read more