President Trump’s administrative agencies are working hard to lock-in policy changes before the major shift expected in January.  The Patent Office is no different. The changes here (except those implementing court precedent) are ones that the next administration could change, but the implementation Final Rules and Precedential Decision create administrative hurdles.

Final Rules on PTAB Practice: A new set of final rules has now been published and will become effective on January 8, 2021. [Rules].

• Eliminating Presumption in Favor of Petitioner’s Evidence: During the institution stage, there is currently a presumption in favor of the petitioner involving testimonial evidence. 37 C.F.R. § 42.108(c) states that “a genuine issue of material fact created by such testimonial evidence will be viewed in the light most favorable to the petitioner solely for purposes of deciding whether to institute [a] review.’’  The change eliminates that presumption and going forward the Board will simply consider and weigh all presented evidence according to the institution standard.
• Right to a sur-reply: this rule provides the patentee with the right to get-in the last word in the institution-stage briefing.  The new rules also allows the patent owner to respond to a decision to institute.  These changes have already been adopted by the Board, but are now codified within the Rules.
• SAS: The new rules also implement the requirements of SAS barring partial institution (either all challenged claims are reviewed, or no claims are reviewed).

[Rule Change]

New Precedential Decisions: The PTAB (operating under the guidance of Dir. Iancu) has designated three recent institution related decisions as Precedential.  These decisions are important for locking-in the Board’s approach because the Federal Circuit no longer has authority (Thryv) to guide the scope and procedure of IPR institutions.

• RPX Corp. v. Applications in Internet Time, LLC, IPR2015-01750, Paper 128 (Oct. 2, 2020) (precedential) (Finding that Salesforce is a real-party-in-interest of RPX, and thus that RPX is time-barred from petitioning for IPR).
• SharkNinja Operating LLC v. iRobot Corp., IPR2020-00734, Paper 11 (Oct. 6, 2020) (precedential) (Board only needs to resolve real-party-in-interest disputes that would impact the time-bar).
• Apple Inc. v. Uniloc 2017 LLC, IPR2020-00854, Paper 9 (Oct. 28, 2020) (precedential) (Denying institution/joinder of Apple’s copycat petition as a serial challenge; applying the General Plastics model.)

[PTO Description and Links to Cases].  It is easier for the next admin to make changes to these precedential decisions than it is to change rulemaking, but would at least be done in a public manner.

GS Cleantech v. Adkins Energy LLC (Supreme Court 2020)

This pending petition for certiorari focuses on the civil procedure question: What is the standard for review of a partial summary judgment that is not reopened at trial?  Normally summary judgment is reviewed de novo on appeal, but this is a case where the Federal Circuit switched the standard.

The patentee here intentionally failed to disclose its its pre-filing sales-activity to the PTO during prosecution. Those prior sales barred patenting of a number of claims (on sale bar) and the remaining were found unenforceable (inequitable conduct).  That outcome was affirmed on appeal by the Federal Circuit and the court denied a petition for rehearing (without opinion).  Now comes the petition for writ of certiorari. Prof. Hricik and I have both written about the Federal Circuit decision:

• David Hricik, “The Many Mistakes in the Panel Decision in GS CleanTech Corp v. Adkins”;
• David Hricik, “Will the Court Correct the Mess that is GS CleanTech Corp. v. Adkins Energy LLC”;
• Dennis Crouch, “They Chose Advocacy over Candor”.

Here is the relevant procedure at the district court:

• Summary Judgment of Invalidity: A number of claims found invalid based upon the GS-Cleantech’s pre-filing commercial offer for sale (made after the invention was ready for patenting).
• Bench Trial for Inequitable Conduct: The remaining claims were found unenforceable due to inequitable conduct at trial.  Inequitable conduct requires a showing of both intent-to-deceive and that the deception was material to patentability.  At trial, the district court relied upon its summary judgment determination as evidence of materiality.

When appealed, inequitable conduct determinations are generally reviewed for abuse of discretion — providing substantial deference to the district court determination.  The patentee argued that things should be different on the issue of materiality – particularly on the issue of whether the undisclosed prior sales rendered the claims invalid.  The difference here, is that issue was decided on summary judgment, and summary judgment is generally reviewed de novo on appeal.

The Federal Circuit gave full deference — noting that the district court “held an eight-day bench trial in which materiality was squarely before it.”  Further, the district court did not simply apply its prior summary judgment determination but rather it incorporated the summary judgment evidence and admitted additional relevant evidence, including previously unheard testimony relating to materiality and ultimately “confirmed” its summary judgment determination in finding materiality.  On appeal, the Federal Circuit found this sufficient to move the on-sale determination fully under the abuse-of-discretion shelter of the inequitable conduct trial and identified the patentees arguments as lacking nuance. (“This argument is jejune.”).

The patentee also directly appealed the summary judgment of invalidity, but the appellate panel did not hear that issue (which it would have given de novo review). Rather, the appellate panel found the issue moot based upon the unenforceability holding.

All that sets up the current petition for writ of certiorari:

Until the Federal Circuit’s decision in this patent case, every Circuit had held that an issue resolved on partial summary judgment, and not reopened at trial, must be reviewed de novo. Here, the district court resolved the issue of patent invalidity on partial summary judgment, and did not reopen it at trial. Yet, the Federal Circuit expressly refused to review the issue de novo, and instead reviewed it under the “abuse of discretion” standard governing review of the decision at trial.

The question presented is: Whether the Federal Circuit, in cases arising under the Patent Act, may depart from the uniform rule of the other Circuit Courts that an issue resolved on partial summary judgment, and not reopened at trial, must be reviewed de novo on appeal.

[Petition]

Australian Therapeutic Supplies Pty. v. Naked TM (Fed. Cir. 2020) (en banc)

NAKED TM holds the registration for the mark NAKED that it uses to sell its luxury condoms.  However, by the time NAKED TM started its business, Australian Therapy was already selling its NAKED condoms to US customers over the internet.  In the early 2000s, the companies reached some form of a tacit agreement — although without an express contract.  Since 2003, Australian has continued to sell NAKED condoms in the US, but the TTAB found that it was never more than 48 consumers per year.

The appeal here stems from Australian Therapy’s cancellation proceeding that ended when the TTAB found the petitioner lacked standing under 15 U.S.C. § 1064 (petition to cancel may be filed by “any person who believes that he is or will be damaged … by the registration of a mark …”).  The TTAB particularly found a binding contract between the parties where Australian Therapy gave-up its rights to use the mark in the US: 

The evidence shows that the parties reached an agreement. The mutuality of intent to contract is satisfied because the parties recognized their trademark issue and they communicated and exchanged offers to resolve it. The consideration for the contract is Petitioner’s agreement not to use or register the NAKED trademark for condoms in the United States and Respondent’s agreement not to use or register the NUDE trademark for condoms.

The Board explained also that Australian must show a “proprietary rights in its unregistered mark” in order to have standing under the statute.

On appeal, the Federal Circuit reversed — holding a cancellation petition may be filed by any party who demonstrates “a real interest in the cancellation proceeding and a reasonable belief of damage regardless.” It does not require evidence of a “proprietary interest in an asserted unregistered mark.”  Here, the court found a real-interest based on the fact that Australian had filed to register its marks, and had demonstrated a belief of damage because the USPTO refused registration of both the ’237 and ’589 applications based on a likelihood of confusion with Naked’s registered mark, U.S. Registration No. 3,325,577.”

At that point, NAKED TM petitioned for en banc rehearing on two questions:

I. Whether a petitioner who has forfeited its rights in a mark pursuant to a valid settlement agreement has a real interest in the proceedings and a reasonable belief of harm for the registration of said mark so as to support a finding of statutory standing under 15 U.S.C. § 1064 to challenge the registration of the mark; and

II. Whether a petitioner in the TTAB is required to establish the pleaded basis for its standing at the commencement of an action, or whether this Court may rely on an argument that has been waived by a party in finding a basis for standing in the TTAB.

The Federal Circuit has now denied the rehearing, although the case includes an interesting dissent from Judge Wallach. Wallach argues that the decision in Australian Therapy:

1. Conflicts with our case law requiring a “legitimate commercial interest” to have a valid cause of action under 15 U.S.C. § 1064, see Empresa Cubana Del Tabaco v. Gen. Cigar Co., 753 F.3d 1270, 1274 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (following Lexmark Int’l, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc., 572 U.S. 118 (2014)., noting that a petitioner must have a “legitimate commercial interest sufficient to confer standing”);
2. Undermines our case law favoring the enforcement of settlement agreements, see Wells Cargo, Inc. v. Wells Cargo, Inc., 606 F.2d 961, 965 (C.C.P.A. 1979) (“If there [is] a policy favoring challenges to trademark validity, it too has been viewed as outweighed by the policy favoring settlements.”); and
3. Raises questions as to the impact of Supreme Court precedent on our statutory standing jurisprudence, see Lexmark, 572 U.S. at 128 n.4 (noting that statutory standing does not implicate Article III subject matter jurisdiction), 134 (providing “a direct application of the zone-of-interests test and the proximate-cause requirement [to] suppl[y] the relevant limits on who may sue”).

AusTherapy v. Naked.

The USPTO has made its new Patent Center available to all users — although still in beta form.

• The Center: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov/#!/
• Info: https://www.uspto.gov/patents-application-process/patent-center

The Patent Center is designed as a more streamlined tool electronic filing of patent applications that combines EFS-Web and PAIR. For now, the PTO is planning to keep those avenues available until the Patent Center achieves full functionality and stability.

The Patent Act indicates that patents should be treated as if “personal property” and that both patents and patent applications are “assignable in law by an instrument in writing.” 35 U.S.C. 261.  Section 102 also suggests that the claimed invention may already be “owned” prior to filing. 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(1)(C).

A disclosure [in a prior-filed patent application] shall not be prior art to a claimed invention under subsection (a)(2) if … [T]he subject matter disclosed and the claimed invention, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, were owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person.

Id. The reference to ownership of pre-filing inventions suggests a property right, but does not expressly define that right.  In its 2011 decision, the Supreme Court offered the clue “that inventors have the right to patent their inventions.” Bd. of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior U. v. Roche Molecular Sys., Inc., 563 U.S. 776 (2011).  In Stanford v. Roche, the court also offered some cases for discussion:

• Gayler v. Wilder, 51 U.S.(10 How. 477), 493 (1851) (“the discoverer of a new and useful improvement is vested by law with an inchoate right to its exclusive use, which he may perfect and make absolute by proceeding in the manner which the law requires”);
• Solomons v. United States, 137 U.S. 342 (1890) (“whatever invention [an inventor] may thus conceive and perfect is his individual property”);
• United States v. Dubilier Condenser Corp., 289 U.S. 178 (1933) (an inventor owns “the product of [his] original thought”).

Despite these old cases, it is remains unclear to me what does it mean to “own” a “claimed invention” before the patent application is on file.  What law applies?

US vs. Arthrex, 19-1434 (Supreme Court 2020).

Earlier this year the Supreme Court granted writ of certiorari on the PTAB appointments clause issues stemming from the Federal Circuit’s determination that (1) PTAB judges were Officers of the United States who should have been appointed by the President (rather than by the Secretary of Commerce), but (2) the appointments problem was curable by eliminating any statutory job security held by the judges (this reduced them to “inferior officers” who are properly appointed by a head of department, such as the Secretary of Commerce).  The court agreed to hear the first two questions, but not the third (regarding waiver/forfeiture).

1. Whether, for purposes of the Appointments Clause, U.S. Const. Art. II, § 2, Cl. 2, administrative patent judges of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office are principal officers who must be appointed by the President with the Senate’s advice and consent, or “inferior Officers” whose appointment Congress has permissibly vested in a department head.
2. Whether, if administrative patent judges are principal officers, the court of appeals properly cured any Appointments Clause defect in the current statutory scheme prospectively by severing the application of 5 U.S.C. 7513(a) to those judges.
3. Whether the court of appeals in Arthrex erred by adjudicating an Appointments Clause challenge that had not been presented to the agency.

July 22, 2020 Memorandum for the United States.

The case involves three parties.

• Arthrex, whose patent is being challenged in inter partes review. Arthrex brought the appointments clause challenge, but strongly disagrees with the severing “cure.”
• Smith & Nephew, the IPR petitioner. Smith & Nephew fundamentally argues that the the PTAB judges are at most inferior officers and thus were properly appointed.
• US Gov’t intervened in the lawsuit to defend the PTAB decision, and also argues that PTAB judges are inferior officers.

The first round of merits briefing has been filed by the US and Smith&Nephew.  As discussed below, neither party addressed the second question — they will have an opportunity to do so after Arthrex files its opening brief later this month. Additional amicus briefs are expected this week.

• Opening Brief for the United States
• Opening Brief for S&N
• Amicus Brief from Prof. John Harrison

US Gov’t Brief:  In its brief, the US argues strongly that PTAB administrative patent judges “are inferior officers whose appointment Congress permissibly vested in the Secretary of Commerce.”  US Government did not address the second question of curing the Appointments problem.

For its analysis, the US attempted to align its argument with the Supreme Court’s approach in Edmond v. United States, 520 U.S. 651 (1997) (Inferior officers must be “directed and supervised at some level by others who were appointed by Presidential nomination with the advice and consent of the Senate.”).

The Gov’t brief walks through the ways that the Secretary of Commerce and USPTO Director (both presidential appointees) possess authority to direct and supervise PTAB judges:

• The Secretary (in consultation with the PTO director) appoints the judges.
• The Secretary can remove the judges for “efficiency” purposes and that includes “failing to follow their supervisors’ instructions.”
• The PTO Director has “unfettered power to decide which adjudicators will sit on any Board panel.”
• The PTO Director has power to “promulgate regulations governing Board proceedings; issue binding policy directives, including instructions regarding how the patent laws and USPTO policies apply to particular fact patterns; and determine which Board decisions are precedential and therefore binding on future panels.”
• “The Director has additional prerogatives regarding the conduct of individual proceedings. He may decide unilaterally whether a particular inter partes or post-grant review will proceed at all, and he possesses substantial authority over any rehearings that the Board may grant.”

Role of Rulemaking: Note here that that one important question arises regarding the extent that the Director has “given-up” authority by rulemaking and by tradition.  Under the promulgated regulations as currently in operation, the PTO Director has delegated substantial authority to the PTAB and to the Chief Judge.  An important example of this is that the PTAB determines institution decisions. A question for the Court will be the extent that those prior rulemakings should be considered when analyzing the officer-status of PTAB judges.

Mechanical Turks: In its opinions, the Federal Circuit also analyzed the situation using Edmond. In its brief, the US asserts that the court’s approach is “deeply flawed.”  Most importantly, the US argues that Edmond should be seen as providing for a flexible and open ended analysis of the level of supervision and control; whereas the Federal Circuit followed a more “mechanistic” of distilling Edmond into three discrete criteria and then focusing solely on those.

Burdensome: An additional important criteria here has to do with the burdensome nature of having the President Nominate and the Senate Confirm a large number of administrative officials. From 1836-1975, the patent judges (then called examiners-in-chief) were appointed by the President.  However, the expansion of the patent system (and administrative state in general) began to identify those appointments as an unneeded burden on the President and thus shifted their appointment to the Secretary of Commerce.  I expect that some members of the court – such as Justice Gorsuch – will see this justification as carrying little weight.

Parker v. Apple (Fed. Cir. 2020) (non-precedential order)

The Federal Circuit has dismissed Parker’s pro se appeal as frivolous.  Parker described the facts of the case as follows:

On October 29, 2018 Raevon Parkerwent to the Apple Store in the Saint Louis Galleria for a malfunction of his cellular device. The attendant in the Apple Store fixed the device but kept it by deceiving the Plaintiff knowing that it was the first phone to have new features [created by Parker himself].

The damages that the plaintiff is seeking is a trillion dollars.

Parker first sued in Missouri state court asking for $2 trillion and $900 USD as well as return of his priceless phone.  The Missouri court dismissed on the pleadings for failure to state a claim. Later, Parker refiled in Federal Court and that case was also dismissed.

You may have heard of district court’s certifying questions for appeal under 28 U.S.C. 1292(b).  In this case, the district court issued a reverse-certification — certifying that any appeal by Mr. Parker should not be taken in good faith.  Still, Parker appealed.

On appeal to the Federal Circuit, Parker made a takings claim — arguing that his 5th Amendment rights were violated by Apple — “his property was taken for public use and he had not been compensated.”  Despite widespread concern over Apple’s monopolistic practices, Apple is not the government and is not bound by the 5th Amendment takings clause or is incorporation under the 14th Amendment.  Thus, the Federal Circuit dismissed the case and denied Parker’s fee waiver petition (Proceedings in forma pauperis).  The Federal statute guiding the court’s approach to in forma pauperis proceedings indicates that the court should dismiss any case where “the action or appeal is frivolous.”  28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B).  Following that guidance the the court has dismissed Parker’s appeal.

= = = =

I will note that the current value of Apple’s publicly traded shares is $2 billion trillion.