1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Supreme Court to Address No-Appeal Provision for Patent Challenges December 4, 2019 In 2011, Congress enacted major patent reform in the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA). The AIA, among other things,
2、 created inter partes review (IPR), an adversarial procedure during which the U.S. Patent & Trademark Offices (PTOs) Patent Trial & Appeal Board (PTAB) reviews the validity of issued patents. IPR allows any person, other than the patentee, to petition the PTAB for review. After receiving a petition,
3、 the PTAB may institute review if it determines that “there is a reasonable likelihood that the petitioner would prevail.” Under 35 U.S.C. 314(d) (the so-called “no-appeal provision”), moreover, the PTABs determination to institute IPR “under this section shall be final and nonappealable.” In Thryv,
4、 Inc. v. Click-To-Call Technologies, LP, the Supreme Court is expected to address the breadth of the no-appeal provision; specifically, whether a party may appeal the PTABs determination that an IPR is not time-barred. The decision in Click-to-Call may have considerable implications both for the sco