Supreme Court Holds that a Decision to Institute an IPR Proceeding Is Not Subject to Judicial Review and that the USPTO May Use the “Broadest Reasonable Construction” Standard When Comparing Claims to the Prior Art

On June 20, 2016, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Cuozzo Speed Technologies, LLC v. Lee which involved an appeal from the first decision by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit from an Inter Partes Review (IPR) proceeding. The Supreme Court affirmed the Federal Circuit's determination that the decision by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to institute an IPR proceeding was not subject to judicial review. Thus, as stated in the § 314(d) of the patent statutes, the USPTO determination whether to institute inter partes review "shall be final and non-appealable."

The decision further held the USPTO was within its proper rulemaking authority to apply the "broadest reasonable construction" standard to the claims during the IPR proceeding instead of the narrower "ordinary and customary meaning" standard that is applicable during district court litigation.

A copy of the full decision is attached here.