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12 August 2014Trademarks

Toys R Us in first post-grant review patent trial

A US toy manufacturer has teamed up with multinational chain Toys R Us to file the first Post-Grant Review (PGR) petition to challenge a patent related to the popular Rainbow Loom craze.

New Jersey-based LaRose Industries has called into question US Patent 8,684,420, which covers the methods used in colourful bracelets, including the Rainbow Loom.

In its petition, LaRose, which makes a product called Cra-Z-Loom, and Toys R Us have asked for a review of 14 claims of the patent, referred to as a “Brunnian Link Making Device and Kit”.

The patent is owned by Malaysian businessman Cheong Choon Ng and his company Choon’s Design Inc.

Among the reasons for its request for review are a lack of written detail and description in the claims.

A PGR, introduced as part of the America Invents Act, is a new trial carried out by the US Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) to review the patentability of one or more claims in a patent.

For a PGR to be accepted, the patent has to be granted on March 16, 2013 or later.

Despite the ‘420 patent being granted on July 26, 2013 it claimed priority through a series of continuation applications that dated back to November 5, 2010.

LaRose and Toys R Us claim that the patent is still subject to PGR because the granted claims are not supported in the original application.

If the review is accepted it could have far reaching effects for other companies that make similar bracelets.

Last August, Cheong Choon Ng sued LaRose and Toys R US, as well as another manufacturer called Zenacon LLC citing patent infringement.

According to the complaint in that lawsuit, which was filed on August 19, Cheong Choon Ng was seeking unspecified damages.

LaRose filed a countersuit on August 28 alleging that "Choon's actions were not motivated by a legitimate business purpose”.

More than one million Rainbow Looms have been sold throughout the world.

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8 January 2015   The first-ever post-grant review proceeding at the US Patent and Trademark Office, centring on a patent covering the Rainbow Loom bracelet, has been terminated after the parties settled the dispute.