MCM Portfolio LLC v. Hewlett-Packard Co.
In a case of first impression, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit upheld the constitutionality of inter
partes review (IPR) proceedings. The Federal Circuit ruled
that because patents were a public right, Congress could delegate
adjudicatory authority to an Article I court such as the Patent
Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB or "Board) at the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office (PTO) without violating Article III or the Seventh
Amendment. MCM Portfolio LLC v. Hewlett-Packard Co., Case
No. 15-1091 (Fed. Cir., Dec. 2, 2015) (Dyk, J.).
The case arose from an IPR involving a flash memory patent. MCM
Portfolio (MCM) sued Hewlett-Packard (HP) on a patent covering
error correction technology in flash drive readers. HP responded by
petitioning the PTAB for an IPR, asserting that the involved patent
was invalid for obviousness. The PTAB instituted an IPR proceeding,
eventually invalidating the claims. MCM appealed.