On July 14, 2025, AddyHart filed an Amicus brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on behalf of the 22 startup company members of the USIJ in support the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (“USPTO”) authority to discretionarily deny an Inter Partes Reviews (“IPR”) initiated by petitioners. The brief supports the position that the USPTO Director has broad discretion to accept or reject IPR petitions. USIJ’s Brief further supports the position that if the PTAB dismisses an IPR Petition, the proper forum for a dissatisfied party remains challenging patent validity through the long-established court system. On the other side of the issue, Federal Circuit mandamus petitioner SAP America, Inc. seeks to limit such discretionary authority, arguing that it violates due process and separation of powers.
Enacted in 2011 under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, the IPR has become a tool frequently used by large corporations with significant financial resources to challenge patent validity. However, it is the smaller inventors, rather than the large corporations, that have long been fueling the innovation economy making it critical not to stifle such innovators with undue financial hurdles.
More specifically, when inventors face defense of their patent before the PTAB, the costs for patentability increase substantially. Allowing the PTO Director discretionary authority to dismiss patent challenges, when appropriate, provides a much needed check in the IPR system, allowing an infringement litigation to proceed along-side any invalidity proceedings in the district court.