SCOTUS IPR decision frustrates biotech industry

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's discretion to implement the inter partes review system in ways that benefit challengers to patent validity. Changing IPR to make it harder to invalidate patent claims is a top policy priority for BIO, and with patent reform legislation off the agenda for the current Congress, the case was the last opportunity until the next session of Congress to make IPR procedures more favorable for patent holders (see BioCentury, April 25).

In Cuozzo Speed Technologies LLC v. Michelle K. Lee, the court ruled Monday that USPTO could use the "broadest reasonable interpretation" claim construction standard when reviewing patents challenged under an IPR review, rather than district court standards that are more likely to favor patent holders. The court also held that a decision by the USPTO's Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) to institute an IPR petition cannot be appealed to the courts. ...