The Patent Trial and Appeal Board is supposed to be a new, efficient alternative that streamlines patent disputes — and it can be. But that depends on district court judges' willingness to place parallel litigation on hold while the board ­determines whether the patents at issue are valid.

With $44 million on the line, a Utah company came out on top before the patent board in a case that highlights the tension between the new forum and pending federal court proceedings.

A federal jury in Madison, Wisconsin, in October found that CaptionCall LLC infringed eight patents held by competitor Ultratec Inc. related to communications and telephone equipment for the hearing impaired.