Federal Circuit Appears Unswayed by Patent Board Bias Attack (1)

Two Federal Circuit judges seemed skeptical at oral argument of a patent owner’s allegation that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board is constitutionally flawed because its process for starting patent reviews is based on impermissible incentives.

New Vision Gaming & Development Inc. told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit the PTAB is “essentially a pay-for-play system.”

Parties arguing before the board see its decisions as “affected by business considerations,” New Vision attorney Matthew James Dowd of Dowd Scheffel PLLC in Washington said. “In the government sector that raises substantial problems of the appearance of impartiality.”

Patent judges ...