SCOTUS Upholds Patent Challenges

The Supreme Court voted unanimously to uphold the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s review procedures, which were challenged by a company that felt it was too easy for patents to be cancelled. Cuozzo Speed Technologies Corp challenged the USPTO’s procedure, known as inter partes review, which was put in place in 2012 to deal with the perceived high number of poor-quality patents issued in recent years. That procedure was used more frequently than expected by litigious companies, such as Apple and Google. The Court also ruled that patent office decisions to initiate reviews may not be appealed, but Justices Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor dissented.