Search Results for: arthrex

New USPTO Director Review Rules

Patent, , , , , ,

by Dennis Crouch

The USPTO has published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to formalize the process for Director Review of PTAB decisions. These proposed rules come in response to the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Arthrex, Inc., 141 S. Ct. 1970 (2021), which underscored the necessity for the USPTO Director to have the ability to review PTAB decisions to comply with the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.  Of course, the USPTO has been operating under an interim procedure for Director Review that began soon after Arthrex, but has been updated a couple of times.  The NPRM closely follows the most recent version of the interim rules.

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Patents are Political

Patent

By Dennis Crouch

I have been repeating this mantra for quite a while - patents are political. In US v. Arthrex, the Supreme Court added an exclamation point.  By design, the US governmental system places presidential political appointees at the top of each executive agency, including the US Patent & Trademark Office so that the US President can then be held directly accountable for the successes and failures.  Note here that the accountability we're talking about is political accountability.

The Federalist Papers (Hamilton) repeatedly focused on this issue, albeit not in the patent context: "The blame of a bad nomination would fall upon the President singly and absolutely."  Federalist 77, for example.  Now, in the words of the Supreme Court, the Presidentially Appointed USPTO Director "is the boss."

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