On October 28, 2025, USPTO Director John Squires issued a memorandum announcing a significant policy adjustment: The Office will revert to its pre-SharkNinja Operating LLC v. iRobot Corp. practice, reinstating the requirement that petitioners for inter partes review (IPR) and post-grant review (PGR) proceedings must fully disclose all Real Parties in Interest (RPI) prior to initiating proceedings.

Under 35 U.S.C. §§ 312(a)(2) and 322(a)(2) of the America Invents Act, a petition “shall not be considered unless it identifies all real parties in interest.” Previously, the USPTO strictly enforced this requirement in cases such as Corning Optical Communications RF, LLC v. PPC Broadband Inc. (IPR2014-00440) in 2015, treating RPI disclosure as a procedural prerequisite for initiating trial.

In 2020, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) shifted this approach in SharkNinja Operating LLC v. iRobot Corp. (IPR2020-00734), relaxing the RPI identification and disclosure requirements due to practical difficulties.

This policy shift formally overturns the relaxed standard established in SharkNinja by re-designating Corning Optical as binding precedent, reinstating the strict ex ante review of RPIs.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce responded to the U.S. modification of rules concerning patent invalidation applications: “China has noted that the U.S. recently amended rules related to patent invalidation applications under the pretext of ‘national security.’ China believes this action violates the U.S.'s international obligations regarding intellectual property and constitutes discriminatory restrictions on the legitimate rights of Chinese enterprises. China will closely monitor developments and take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.”