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Abstract

Interpretation of post-AIA IPR estoppel, codified in U.S.C. § 315(e)(2), is an issue at the forefront of patent litigation and plays an important role in the litigation process and strategy. The Federal Cir-cuit’s April 2023 ruling in Ironburg Inventions Ltd. v. Valve Corp., adopted the “skilled searcher standard” and provided some clarity re-garding the meaning of the § 315(e)(2) language, “reasonably could have raised.” While Ironburg did hold that prior art which “reasonably could have been raised” is that which “a skilled searcher conducting a diligent search reasonably would have been expected to discover,” questions pertaining to what exactly is a “diligent search,” what a “dil-igent search” entails, what such a search could be “expected to discov-er,” as well as how might this be established remains unanswered. This note seeks to provide answers and insight into those questions.

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