Google LLC v. Secure Communication Technologies, LLC
Patent Trial and Appeal Board
Holding
The Director denied institution of IPR2026-00099 (Google LLC v. Secure Communication Technologies, LLC, U.S. Patent 8,116,749, directed to wireless communication technology) on discretionary grounds under § 314(a), finding that Google had been aware of the challenged patent since at least February 2012—over 14 years before the petition—and had even cited it during prosecution of its own related application in December 2012, undermining any claim of lack of notice. The Director also rejected Google's § 325(d)-style material error argument, finding that the alleged clerical error in the notice of allowance was not shown to be material to patentability given the numerous other limitations the examiner identified as missing from the prior art.
Why It Matters
This decision signals that the Director will weigh a petitioner's long-standing, documented awareness of a patent—including its own prosecution citations of that patent—heavily against institution, and that a weak or incomplete material error argument under § 325(d) will not overcome a strong discretionary denial posture, particularly where the patent has been in force for over a decade.
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