Amicus Brief: Cuozzo Speed Technologies, LLC v. Lee (U.S. Supreme Court)

SUMMARY

The Patents Committee (James R. Klaiber, Chair) filed an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court in Cuozzo Speed Technologies, LLC v. Lee. The brief addresses the different standards of review used by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and the federal district courts in adjudicating the validity of prior-issued U.S. patents. Federal district courts apply the “plain and ordinary meaning” standard to analyze the claim language of a challenged patent, whereas the PTAB applies a “broadest reasonable interpretation” standard. These differing standards can, and sometimes do, lead to different rulings depending on the tribunal in which the claim is challenged—i.e., the Federal Circuit finds a patent to be valid and the PTAB finds the exact same patent to be invalid. The Committee urges the Supreme Court to rule that the standards of review for prior-issued patents should be the same in both tribunals so as to provide certainty to patent applicants as well as to the public on the limits of patent protection.