PTAB challenges

Proceedings overview

As of 2026-05-21, there is one active AIA trial proceeding on file for US Patent 11864641, which has been instituted. This means that the patent's claims are currently under review by the PTAB, and no claims have been invalidated or sustained by a Final Written Decision yet.

IPR2025-01180 — Apple Inc v. 1LSS Inc

• Type: Inter Partes Review
• Filed: 2025-07-24
• Status: Trial Instituted (The PTAB has decided to initiate a review of the challenged claims).
• Judge panel:
  • Honorable Miriam Quinn
  • Honorable Brian I. Marcus
  • Honorable Grace S. Chan
• Petition grounds: Apple Inc. challenged claims 1-22 of US11864641 on obviousness grounds under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) in view of various combinations of prior art. Specifically, the petition relied on references such as US 2017/0273413 (Mora), US 9,510,629 (Mora), US 2017/0055728 (Mora), US 2016/0260532 (Mora), US 2013/0075591 (Weng), and US 2018/0020869 (Bhatt).
• Institution decision: Instituted on 2026-01-25. The panel found that the petition demonstrated a reasonable likelihood that Apple Inc. would prevail with respect to at least one claim challenged, specifically finding sufficient grounds for claims 1-22 to proceed to trial.
• Final Written Decision (if issued): Not yet issued. The trial is ongoing.
• Settlement / termination: No settlement or termination has been publicly reported.
• Appeal: N/A, as no Final Written Decision has been issued.
• Defensive value: This active IPR proceeding indicates that all 22 claims of US11864641 are currently under challenge and are being reviewed for patentability by the PTAB. While no claims have been invalidated yet, the institution decision suggests that the petitioner presented a strong enough case for the PTAB to proceed with a full review. A defendant facing assertion of this patent should monitor this IPR closely, as an unfavorable outcome for the patent owner could significantly weaken the patent's enforceability.

Strategic summary

Currently, all 22 claims of US11864641 are being challenged in IPR2025-01180 and are therefore under review. None of the claims have been definitively canceled or sustained by a Final Written Decision at this stage. This means the patent's scope remains officially as granted until the PTAB issues a final determination.

The estoppel landscape under 35 U.S.C. § 315(e)(2) will only become relevant for Apple Inc. (and its privies) after a Final Written Decision is issued. If a FWD is issued, Apple (and its privies) would be estopped from asserting invalidity grounds that were raised or reasonably could have been raised during the IPR with respect to any claims that survive the review. For other potential defendants, the prior art grounds raised by Apple in IPR2025-01180 (including the Mora, Weng, and Bhatt references) are still potentially available, assuming they are not in privity with Apple and meet other IPR filing requirements.

The IPR was filed by Apple Inc., a major technology company, which can be a signal of significant commercial interest or defensive posture against the patent. The fact that the trial was instituted for all claims 1-22 suggests that the PTAB considered Apple's arguments against the patent to be substantial.

Recommended next steps

Since IPR2025-01180 is active and instituted, a defendant should:

• Monitor the proceeding closely. The PTAB has a statutory one-year deadline to issue a Final Written Decision from the institution date (January 25, 2026). Therefore, the FWD is expected around January 25, 2027. Key upcoming milestones include the Patent Owner's response, Petitioner's reply, and potentially an oral hearing.
• Review the institution decision for IPR2025-01180 to understand the PTAB's initial reasoning for instituting the trial and the specific grounds deemed sufficiently strong. The institution decision can be accessed via the USPTO PTAB E2E portal using the proceeding number IPR2025-01180.
• Assess the prior art and arguments presented in the IPR petition. This can provide valuable insights into potential invalidity arguments if a separate defense strategy is being considered.

The PTAB Docket for IPR2025-01180 can be found at:

• Unified Patents Portal: https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/ptab/case/IPR2025-01180
• USPTO PTAB E2E (requires login to access full documents): Search by IPR2025-01180.