The Federal Circuit recently affirmed a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that invalidated several claims of a Qualcomm Inc. patent, which the court had previously upheld. This ruling emphasizes the importance of corroborated conception in determining co-inventorship and clarifies the criteria for what constitutes prior art in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings. Specifically, the court noted that published patent applications are considered prior art as of their filing date, impacting the evaluation of written descriptions against claims. The Federal Circuit's decision reflects ongoing developments in intellectual property litigation and the standards applied in patent disputes.