Big Tech Says ‘Fintiv’ Return Bolsters Appeal to Nix Rule

Apple Inc., Intel Corp., and Cisco Systems Inc. told the Federal Circuit that the US Patent and Trademark Office’s recent move to give administrative judges more leeway to reject patent validity challenges strengthens the companies’ appeal seeking to throw out that discretion entirely.

The office’s Feb. 28 withdrawal of 2022 guidance that had narrowed what’s known as the Fintiv rule underscores the big tech companies’ argument that the practice of discretionary denials is a substantive rule that should have undergone notice-and-comment rulemaking, the companies said in a letter filed Wednesday at the US Court of Appeals for the ...