Federal Circuit Judge Signals to SCOTUS Need to Check PTAB (1)

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board wrongly dismissed a patent review after disregarding a Federal Circuit remand order, Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman said in a dissent Monday.

The dissent came in the full Federal Circuit’s denial to rehear a pharmaceutical patent challenge. Newman said the decision to reject BioDelivery Sciences International Inc.'s request for en banc review “raises critical issues of agency authority, judicial responsibility, and the constitutional plan.”

Dissents from denials of full-court rehearings are unusual and typically serve as a signal to the U.S. Supreme Court that an issue is worthy of its attention, attorneys say.

Such ...