Process for challenging patent validity scrutinized

Abstract

The Supreme Court is considering whether a streamlined system created by Congress in 2011 for challenging the validity of patents violates the U.S. Constitution. The court is expected to rule by the end of June on a case that technology companies and the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries are watching closely. Specifically, the justices are weighing whether the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office’s administrative adjudicatory body—the Patent Trial & Appeal Board—can toss out patents after they’ve been granted or if that can be done only by a federal court. Since the streamlined administrative process was established, some 7,600 petitions have been filed. In 1,800 final decisions, the appeals board revoked all or part of a patent in about 80% of the cases. The standard for revoking a patent is lower in the administrative proceeding than in federal court. Silicon Valley companies say the administrative appeals process is a quicker and less