INSIGHT: SAS v. Iancu—Changes to Inter Partes Review and Beyond

In this article published in Bloomberg BNA's Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal, Thomas Saunders, Heather Petruzzi and David Yin analyze the US Supreme Court's decision in SAS v. Iancu. In addition to summarizing the Court's reasoning and holding, the authors examine the implications of the decision on the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and litigants in district court and at the Federal Circuit. The authors also offer strategic considerations for parties in those fora based on SAS and recent cases interpreting that decision.

Excerpt: On April 24, 2018, the Supreme Court issued its decision in SAS Institute Inc. v. Iancu 138 S. Ct. 1348 (2018). SAS involved a challenge to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's (Board) practice of instituting inter partes review (IPR) as to fewer than all of the claims challenged as unpatentable in an IPR petition.