US Patent Office Wins Case Against The Invention Submission Corporation

PatentlyOImage017Stephen Nipper of the Invent-Blog directs us to to an interesting case regarding the Invention Submission Corporation.

Invention Submission Corporation v. Dudas (4th Cir. 2005).

In 2002, the USPTO launched a media campaign to counter invention promotion scams that included customer testimony from a disgruntled Invention Submission Corporation customer.  Although the ads did not mention Invention Submission by name, a reporter was able to uncover the customer’s identity and report on the link.

Invention Submission Corporation then sued the PTO, alleging that the advertising campaign was directed at Invention Submission to “penalize it and ultimately to put it out of business.”

The district court dismissed Invention Submission’s claim because it was not a “final agency action” that would be reviewable under the APA.  On appeal for a second time on this issue, the Fourth Circuit agreed and affirmed the district court’s dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

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