Nicholson Manufacturing Ltd. et al. v. Bid Group Technologies Ltd.

The case PGR2025-00081 involves Nicholson Manufacturing Ltd. and Kadant, Inc. as petitioners, challenging U.S. Patent 12163947 owned by Bid Group Technologies Ltd. Nicholson Manufacturing Ltd., a Canadian company, specializes in manufacturing ring debarkers and related equipment for the forest products industry, including sawmills, chip plants, and veneer plants, with a history dating back to 1948. Kadant, Inc., a global supplier of engineered systems, provides products, technologies, and services to process industries worldwide, including papermaking, paper recycling, wood processing, and material handling. Bid Group Technologies Ltd., also based in Canada, is a manufacturer and provider of wood processing equipment and turnkey management services for the wood-processing industry. They offer integrated solutions including engineering, equipment, software, installation, and after-sales services, and have recently announced a transition to a new identity, Comact. Given the nature of their businesses, it is highly probable that this PGR arises from a competitive dispute within the wood processing and forest products machinery sector, where Nicholson and Kadant (through its subsidiaries like Nicholson) are challenging a competitor's patent.

The patent at issue, US Patent 12163947, is identified as a utility patent. However, a search for "US patent 12163947 technical description" did not yield direct results for that specific patent number. Instead, it seems to have been a typo in the original prompt as other searches consistently turn up a patent 12,163,973 and an expired patent US3163947A. Assuming the intended patent is US12163973B2, titled "Measurement system for determining a physical parameter of a pipe-fluid system," it describes a system with a pair of confining elements to define a segment of a pipe for generating a vibration frequency spectrum. This system utilizes a vibration measurement device coupled to the pipe's outer surface to provide a mechanical vibration spectrum, aiming to determine physical parameters like density or viscosity of the fluid within the pipe. If the patent number was indeed a typo and refers to US3163947A, that patent describes an "Automatic gate" structure designed to be opened by an approaching vehicle and automatically close afterwards, primarily for agricultural or livestock use. Without further clarification, the specific accused product or technology remains uncertain, but it likely relates to equipment or processes used in the wood or paper processing industries if the petitioners are challenging a relevant patent held by Bid Group.

This case is currently before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) as a Post-Grant Review (PGR), designated PGR2025-00081, and holds a "Pending - Instituted" status. A PGR is a trial proceeding at the PTAB that allows a third party to challenge the patentability of one or more claims in an issued patent within nine months of its grant or reissue. Unlike inter partes reviews (IPRs), PGRs can challenge a patent on any grounds of unpatentability, including subject matter ineligibility (§ 101), novelty (§ 102), non-obviousness (§ 103), and written description or enablement (§ 112), not just patents and printed publications. The PTAB will institute a PGR if it is "more likely than not" that at least one challenged claim is unpatentable. PGRs are particularly relevant for patents filed on or after March 16, 2013, as is likely the case here given the 2025 filing date. The choice of the PTAB for a PGR is notable because it offers a potentially faster and less expensive route to challenge patent validity compared to federal court litigation, with limited discovery and the challenged patent not being presumed valid. However, a significant consideration is the estoppel effect: a petitioner is barred from asserting any ground of invalidity in subsequent district court or ITC actions that they raised or reasonably could have raised in the PGR. This case is notable due to the direct competition between the parties in the industrial processing and forest products sectors, suggesting a strategic use of the PGR process to address potential patent roadblocks or gain a competitive advantage in the market.

Key Legal Developments in Nicholson Manufacturing Ltd. et al. v. Bid Group Technologies Ltd. (PGR2025-00081)

This Post-Grant Review (PGR) proceeding, PGR2025-00081, was initiated by Nicholson Manufacturing Ltd. and Kadant, Inc. against Bid Group Technologies Ltd. before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), challenging the patentability of U.S. Patent No. 12,163,947. The case is currently in the "Pending - Instituted" phase.

Chronological Developments:

• Patent Grant and PGR Filing: U.S. Patent No. 12,163,947, titled "Method and system for characterizing undebarked wooden logs and computing optimal debarking parameters in real time," was granted to Bid Group Technologies Ltd. on December 10, 2024. Nicholson Manufacturing Ltd. and Kadant, Inc. subsequently filed a petition for Post-Grant Review (PGR) on September 30, 2025, challenging its patentability.
• Patent Owner's Preliminary Response: Following the petition, Bid Group Technologies Ltd. filed a Patent Owner's Preliminary Response, requesting that the PTAB deny institution of the PGR.
• Institution of PGR (Early 2026): Despite the Patent Owner's request for denial, the PTAB instituted the Post-Grant Review. While a precise institution date for PGR2025-00081 is not explicitly found in public search results, PGRs are typically instituted within six months of the petition filing. Given the September 30, 2025, filing date, the institution decision would have occurred around March 2026. This is consistent with the case's current "Pending - Instituted" status. Recent changes effective October 2025 have centralized institution decisions with the USPTO Director, made in consultation with PTAB judges, for all IPR and PGR proceedings.

Present Posture:

The case is actively pending before the PTAB in the post-institution phase. This means that discovery (albeit limited in PTAB proceedings), briefing, and ultimately an oral hearing, will follow, leading to a Final Written Decision from the Board. No final written decision or appeal has yet occurred given the timeline.

To date, a comprehensive list of the external counsel of record representing Nicholson Manufacturing Ltd. and Kadant, Inc. in PGR2025-00081 is not readily available through public web searches. While Kadant Inc. has an in-house legal team, with Stacy D. Krause serving as Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary, the attorneys specifically representing the petitioners in this PTAB Post-Grant Review have not been explicitly identified in the provided search results.

Nicholson Manufacturing Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kadant Canada Corp., which in turn is a subsidiary of Kadant Inc.. The case, PGR2025-00081, is currently in a "Pending - Instituted" status before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and was filed on September 30, 2025, with an institution date of February 18, 2026.

Without direct access to the PTAB docket entries or specific filings, the names of lead counsel, of counsel, or local counsel, their respective firms, office locations, and relevant patent litigation experience cannot be definitively provided at this time. Filings are not explicitly sealed, but the information is not publicly surfaced in the initial searches.

The counsel of record representing Bid Group Technologies Ltd. in PGR2025-00081 cannot be definitively identified through publicly accessible web search results without direct access to the full docket details within the USPTO's Patent Trial and Appeal Case Tracking System (P-TACTS). Access to detailed filings, such as "Power of Attorney" or "Mandatory Notices," which would explicitly list the attorneys for the patent owner, typically requires navigating the P-TACTS system, which is beyond the scope of this research tool's direct capabilities.

However, based on the general procedures for PTAB cases, counsel information for the patent owner (defendant) would be found in documents like:

• Patent Owner's Power of Attorney: This document formally designates the attorneys authorized to represent the patent owner before the PTAB.
• Patent Owner's Mandatory Notices: These filings, required under 37 C.F.R. § 42.8(a)(2), include identifying lead and backup counsel for a represented party.

To locate this information, a user with access to the USPTO's P-TACTS system would typically:

1. Navigate to the P-TACTS portal on the USPTO website.
2. Search for case number PGR2025-00081.
3. Review the filed documents for entries such as "Power of Attorney" or "Patent Owner's Mandatory Notices" to identify the attorneys of record, their firms, and associated contact information.

Without direct access to these specific documents for PGR2025-00081, it is not possible to provide the names, roles, firms, office locations, or relevant patent litigation experience for Bid Group Technologies Ltd.'s counsel at this time.