Judge Profile

Kristina M. Kalan

58 IP cases indexed. Covers patent matters.

Cases Presided Over

58 cases indexed | Page 2 of 2

patent instituted

PacifiCorp et al. v.MES, Inc.

· IPR2025-00425

The Board instituted the IPR petition against Patent No. 10589225, finding a reasonable likelihood of prevailing on multiple grounds. The institution decision addressed complex issues regarding real party in interest and written description support for genus claims related to flue gas treatment.

patent instituted

PacifiCorp et al. v.MES, Inc.

· IPR2025-00717

The PTAB institution decision found that the Petitioner successfully established a reasonable likelihood of prevailing on multiple claims against Birchtech Corp.'s patent. The grounds for unpatentability centered on obviousness (103) based on combining prior art related to pollutant removal from flue gas.

patent instituted

PacifiCorp et al. v.MES, Inc.

· IPR2025-00717

PacifiCorp successfully challenged 26 claims of Birchtech Corp.'s patent (10926218) related to flue gas desulfurization, leading the PTAB to find a reasonable likelihood of prevailing on at least one claim. The Board concluded that combining prior art references was an obvious application of known techniques in mercury removal technology.

patent instituted

PacifiCorp et al. v.MES, Inc.

· IPR2025-00718

PacifiCorp et al. successfully convinced the PTAB to institute IPR proceedings against MES, Inc.'s patent (10926218) regarding pollutant removal from flue gas. The Board found a reasonable likelihood of prevailing on both anticipation and obviousness grounds based on multiple prior art references.

patent denied

PacifiCorp et al. v.MES, Inc.

· IPR2025-00718

The PTAB denied institution of an IPR for a mercury removal patent (10926218) after the Director remanded the case due to multiple concurrent petitions. The denial was based on following the Director's instruction to prioritize one petition over another.

patent terminated or settled

Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company et al. v.MES, Inc.

· IPR2025-00423

Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s power subsidiaries settled with Birchtech, leading the PTAB to terminate the IPR as to those petitioners while the case remains open for the remaining parties. The settlement agreement was deemed business‑confidential.

patent all challenged claims upheld

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al. v.Molecular Rebar Design, LLC

· IPR2025-00356

Samsung’s challenge to Molecular Rebar Design’s lithium‑ion battery patent was rejected. The PTAB held that none of the eight claims were obvious over the cited prior art, leaving the patent fully intact.

patent denied

Zhuhai CosMX Battery Co., Ltd. v.Ningde Amperex Technology Ltd.

· IPR2025-00405

The PTAB denied Zhuhai CosMX Battery’s petition for inter partes review of Ningde Amperex’s lithium‑battery electrolyte patent, finding no reasonable likelihood of success on any claim.

patent denied

Zhuhai CosMX Battery Co., Ltd. v.Ningde Amperex Technology Ltd.

· IPR2025-00431

The PTAB denied Zhuhai CosMX Battery’s petition to review Ningde Amperex’s 10,833,363 battery electrolyte patent, finding no reasonable likelihood of success.

patent terminated or settled

PacifiCorp et al. v.MES, Inc.

· IPR2025-00717

Utility companies and BirchTech settled multiple IPRs covering power‑grid patents. The Board treated the settlement agreements as confidential and terminated the IPRs as to the settling petitioners, leaving the remaining petitioners in the proceeding.

patent denied

Zhuhai CosMX Battery Co., Ltd. v.Ningde Amperex Technology Ltd.

· IPR2025-00722

The PTAB denied Zhuhai CosMX Battery’s petition to invalidate Ningde Amperex’s 2020 electrolyte patent, finding no reasonable likelihood of success. The Board held that the prior art did not adequately disclose all claim elements, especially the propyl propionate ratio.

patent instituted

PacifiCorp et al. v.MES, Inc.

· IPR2025-00687

PacifiCorp and co-petitioners successfully challenged the '370 patent, demonstrating a reasonable likelihood of prevailing on multiple grounds of obviousness (103). The Board found that combinations of prior art references like Vosteen589/Starns or Downs-Boiler/Mass-EPA rendered key claims obvious.

patent instituted

PacifiCorp et al. v.MES, Inc.

· IPR2025-00687

The PTAB instituted IPR on PacifiCorp's claims against Birchtech Corp. regarding flue gas desulfurization technology, overcoming a time-bar defense raised by the Patent Owner. The Board found Petitioner met the reasonable likelihood standard for institution across multiple grounds of anticipation and obviousness.

patent instituted

PacifiCorp et al. v.MES, Inc.

· IPR2025-00688

The PTAB decided to institute the IPR petition against Birchtech Corp.'s '370 patent, finding that PacifiCorp et al. met the standard for reasonable likelihood of prevailing on all asserted grounds. The Board also addressed and rejected arguments from Patent Owner regarding written description and enablement issues concerning bromide compounds.

patent denied

PacifiCorp et al. v.MES, Inc.

· IPR2025-00688

The PTAB denied institution of an IPR petition challenging a mercury removal patent (10933370) because the petitioner had filed a second, ranked petition on the same claims. The Board followed the Director's instruction to select only one petition.

patent denied

ClearCorrect Operating, LLC et al. v.Align Technology, Inc.

· IPR2025-00814

ClearCorrect Operating lost its IPR challenge against Align Technology regarding dental treatment planning technology. The PTAB ruled that the claimed obviousness over prior art was not demonstrated, upholding the validity of the patent claims.

patent denied

ClearCorrect Operating, LLC et al. v.Align Technology, Inc.

· IPR2025-00815

ClearCorrect Operating lost its IPR challenge against Align Technology's '879 patent in a PTAB decision focused on obviousness. The Board rejected the petitioner’s argument that combining prior art references would render the claims obvious, upholding the validity of the challenged technology in orthodontics.

patent instituted

ClearCorrect Operating, LLC et al. v.Align Technology, Inc.

· IPR2025-00816

ClearCorrect Operating challenged Align Technology's dental treatment planning patent (11,369,456 B2) before the PTAB. The Board found a reasonable likelihood of prevailing on Ground 1, based on obviousness over Chishti-511, Chishti-876, and Sachdeva.

patent instituted

ClearCorrect Operating, LLC et al. v.Align Technology, Inc.

· IPR2025-00818

The PTAB decided to institute the IPR proceedings against Align Technology's patent (10973613) after Petitioner ClearCorrect demonstrated a reasonable likelihood of prevailing. The Board found that combining prior art references like Tadros, Kalili, and Texin 990R was motivated by POSITA with reasonable expectation of success.

patent instituted

ClearCorrect Operating, LLC et al. v.Align Technology, Inc.

· IPR2025-00820

The PTAB granted institution of IPR for ClearCorrect against Align Technology regarding a dental aligner patent (11,648,090). The Board found sufficient evidence that the challenged claims would be obvious over prior art references.

patent instituted

ClearCorrect Operating, LLC et al. v.Align Technology, Inc.

· IPR2025-00819

ClearCorrect Operating successfully instituted the IPR against Align Technology's dental appliance patent by demonstrating a reasonable likelihood of prevailing on multiple grounds. The Board found sufficient motivation in prior art references to combine them and support the claims under Section 103.

patent instituted

ClearCorrect Operating, LLC et al. v.Align Technology, Inc.

· IPR2025-00821

ClearCorrect Operating successfully convinced the PTAB to institute review on all claims, arguing that Align Technology's dental aligner patents are obvious under 35 U.S.C. §102 and §103. The Board accepted the petitioner's arguments regarding material substitutions (Tritan for polycarbonate) and combining prior art references into a multilayer device.

patent instituted

Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. v.Greenthread, LLC

· IPR2024-00468

Monolithic Power Systems successfully instituted an IPR against Greenthread’s 8,421,195 patent covering CMOS devices with graded dopant regions, citing obviousness over multiple prior‑art references.

patent all challenged claims upheld

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al. v.Molecular Rebar Design, LLC

· IPR2025-00359

Samsung’s IPR challenge to Molecular Rebar Design’s lithium‑ion battery patent was rejected; the Board found no unpatentable claims after concluding the petitioner’s obviousness arguments were unsupported.

patent all challenged claims unpatentable

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al. v.Molecular Rebar Design, LLC

· IPR2025-00358

Samsung successfully challenged all 16 claims of Molecular Rebar Design’s ’282 patent covering carbon‑nanotube binders for batteries. The Board found the claims obvious over prior art and adopted a construction that “discrete” does not require non‑attachment.

patent terminated or settled

PacifiCorp et al. v.MES, Inc.

· IPR2025-00424

Utility affiliates of Berkshire Hathaway Energy settled multiple PTAB IPRs, leading to the termination of the cases for the settling parties while the Board kept the proceedings open for the remaining petitioners.

patent terminated or settled

PacifiCorp et al. v.MES, Inc.

· IPR2025-00688

Utility consortiums including PacifiCorp settled IPRs covering several power‑grid patents, resulting in the termination of the proceeding for two petitioners while the Board kept the case open for the remaining parties. The settlement agreement was designated business‑confidential.

patent terminated or settled

PacifiCorp et al. v.MES, Inc.

· IPR2025-00687

MidAmerican Energy settled its IPR against BirchTech’s ’370 patent, prompting the Board to terminate the case for MidAmerican while the proceeding remains active against PacifiCorp.

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