Law360, New York (November 15, 2012, 1:11 PM EST) -- Signed into law by President Obama on Sept. 16, 2011, the America Invents Act represents the most sweeping changes to U.S. patent law in over 60 years. Among its many provisions, the AIA created a new administrative patent challenge proceeding at the United States Patent and Trademark Office: inter partes review.[1] The new IPR replaces inter partes re-examinations ("IPRex") as a parallel or alternative to district court litigation to adjudicate patentability of issued patents. Whereas IPRex was seldom utilized by generic defendants in Hatch-Waxman actions, several key features of the new IPR proceedings make it an attractive strategic complement or alternative to abbreviated new drug application litigation....