On October 17, 2025, USPTO Director John Squires issued a memorandum announcing that he would be sole decision-maker for institution of inter partes review (IPR) and post-grant review (PGR) proceedings. In this same memo, Squires stated those decisions would be determined “based on discretionary considerations.” In the time since, Squires has used a series of
In mCom IP, LLC v. City National Bank of Florida, the Federal Circuit reversed an award of attorneys’ fees under 35 U.S.C. § 285 against the patent owner and sanctions under 28 U.S.C. § 1927 against its counsel, holding that neither the patent owner’s decision to litigate patent claims surviving inter partes review (IPR)
A recent precedential Federal Circuit decision further clarifies the limited scope of judicial review over PTAB institution-related rulings, holding that refusal by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to resolve a disputed real-party-in-interest issue under 35 U.S.C. § 312(a)(2) is unreviewable on appeal. The April 29, 2026, decision in Federal Express Corporation v. Qualcomm Incorporated
In Corephotonics, Ltd. v. Apple Inc., the Federal Circuit partially signed off on Apple’s win before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) invalidating a number of patents owned by Corephotonics relating to dual-aperture cameras and methods of using the images from both lenses when zooming while capturing video to prevent “jumping” (U.S. Patent
Recently, the Federal Circuit affirmed a finding of non-obviousness from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of a design patent owned by GM. While non-precedential, this decision is nonetheless a valuable read because the Federal Circuit scrutinized the obviousness standard applicable to design patents. In doing so, the appellate panel clarified that