In Bloomberg Law, IP Litigator Addresses U.S. Supreme Court Case on Patent Time-Bar Appeals

The authority of courts to review a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s decision to hold a patent validity trial based on the timing of a challenge was examined during oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in Thryv, Inc. v. Click-To-Call Technologies, LP.

The court will address whether a section of the law saying the patent office director’s decision to institute an inter partes review is “final and unappealable” allows appeals when the Patent Trial and Appeal Board declares that a one-year deadline in another section of the law doesn’t apply to the dispute.

A Bloomberg Law published on Dec. 9 includes insights from IP litigation partner Matt Rizzolo (Washington, D.C.). Mr. Rizzolo notes that permitting patent time-bar appeals could be costly to all involved. The parties could conduct a lengthy IPR proceeding in which parts of a patent are found ineligible for protection, only to have an appeals court reverse the decision.