The Future of Space Exploration: Spacex's Petitions for Inter Partes Review Against Blue Origin's Rocket-Landing Technology

摘要

Since the end of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Shuttle program, space exploration has become more prevalent amongst privately owned companies, like Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX). The high cost of launching a rocket remains the determining factor in both how and when private space exploration will become a reality. Blue Origin, LLC (Blue Origin), a SpaceX competitor founded by Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos, secured Patent No. 8,678,321 B2 ('321 patent), which involves landing and recovering a reusable launch vehicle (RLV) in order to make rocket launching exponentially cheaper. Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, filed two petitions challenging the '321 patent's validity in order to avoid potential infringement. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) denied inter partes review of Claims 14 and 15 (Petition One), stating that the "challenged claims are not amenable to construction." Thus, the PTAB was "unable to reach a determination on the reasonable likelihood of SpaceX prevailing on the ground asserted in the Petition." The PTAB, however, determined that the second petition (Petition Two) "demonstrated a reasonable likelihood that it would prevail in showing unpatentability" and granted inter partes review.