IP Litigators Address Supreme Court Ruling on Government Patent Challenges

In The News
August 28, 2019

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 co-authored an IP Litigator article with insights on the decision.

The authors explain that 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 an inter partes review, the most common administrative patent validity challenge. This case may have consequences for other pending patent issues, such as the use of sovereign immunity to prevent patent validity challenges.