“Congress created inter partes review (‘IPR’) to give the public an efficient way to challenge patents that should never have issued. Congress specified the criteria governing whether the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (‘PTO’) institutes review.”
“Here, the PTO refused to institute review for a reason found nowhere in any statute: the expected time to trial in separate district court litigation. The Federal Circuit held that judicial review is unavailable to decide whether the agency exceeded its authority by devising extra-statutory limits on IPR.”
“The question presented is:”
“Whether courts have power to review a PTO decision denying inter partes review on grounds that are contrary to statute, like an extra-statutory restriction based on time to trial in separate litigation.”
