Scott McKeown Examines U.S. Supreme Court Patent Review Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Arthrex, Inc. that administrative judges for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board were appointed unconstitutionally, but the court concluded that giving the PTO’s director authority to review their decisions could solve the problem. IP litigation partner Scott McKeown (Washington, D.C.) discussed the ruling in Reuters, Bloomberg Law and Law360.
Scott noted the Federal Circuit will still have the last say on PTAB decisions, which can be appealed to the court. Any PTO director that wanted to reverse a PTAB panel ruling is going to have to establish a record for appeal that will withstand Federal Circuit review.