PTAB Under Attack

The U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear argument in two patent cases that cut to the heart of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's (PTAB) authority to adjudicate patent validity through inter partes review (IPR) proceedings.

In these cases, the court could potentially abolish IPRs altogether or could substantially alter the PTAB's procedures for deciding which challenged claims it will review.

Oil States Energy Services v. Greene's Energy

In Oil States,  the  justices granted certiorari  to consider whether IPRs violate the U.S. Constitution by extinguishing patent rights in a non-Article III forum without a jury. In this case, the PTAB invalidated an Oil States patent directed to hydraulic fracturing in an IPR proceeding. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the PTAB's decision without opinion, implicitly rejecting the constitutional challenges Oil States raised.