Intellectual Property Litigators Quoted in Reuters, Bloomberg BNA and Law360 on State Sovereign Immunity
Intellectual property litigation partner Scott McKeown and counsel Matthew Rizzolo (both of Washington, D.C.) were quoted in a Dec. 19 - 21 articles in Reuters, Law360 and Bloomberg BNA’s Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal examining an expanded Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) panel decision that has determined that the filing of a federal court action alleging patent infringement waives the University of Minnesota’s sovereign immunity in a subsequent inter partes review proceeding before the PTAB.
They explain that the PTAB decision in the Ericsson Inc. v. Regents of the University of Minnesota case is a setback to efforts by pharmaceutical and technology companies to shield patents from PTAB review by transferring them to state universities and Native American tribes. They expect an appeal and/or a petition for writ of mandamus review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.