Wikipedia As Evidence In Post-Grant Patent Proceedings

The conclusion was less than a carte blanche, but in a case where the patent owner was attempting to marshal evidence regarding two technical questions, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board refused to exclude documents from Wikipedia and Webopedia. The patent owner wanted to use one article to help define“Web application” for claim purposes, the other to help establish a distinction between the Internet and the World Wide Web. The petitioner maintained both these documents were “unauthenticated,” and the Board essentially said “not necessarily” and that it would grant them “appropriate weight.” In his post on the matter, Sughrue Mion attorney Cyril Chan notes that in other cases the Board has been more skeptical of Wikipedia evidence, and he suggests what might have made difference in this case.