IP Litigator Addresses Supreme Court Ruling on Government Patent Challenges

In Return Mail v. U.S. Postal Service, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the government is not a “person” that has standing to challenge a patent under the America Invents Act. IP litigation partner Matt Rizzolo (Washington, D.C.) was quoted with insights on the decision in The National Law Journal, Bloomberg Law, Law360 and World Intellectual Property Review, Managing Intellectual Property and Law.com.

Mr. Rizzolo explains while this case involved the federal government, the ruling likely also applies to state as well as foreign governments and their agencies that may want to file the most common administrative patent validity challenge, an inter partes review. He also notes that this case may have consequences for other pending patent issues, such as the use of sovereign immunity to prevent patent validity challenges.