High Court Asked to Weigh Acting Patent Office Head’s Authority

The US Supreme Court has been asked to weigh whether former Commissioner of Patents Drew Hirshfeld had the power to reject a request for director review during his stint as acting head of the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Fall Line Patents LLC said in a Monday petition that the Federal Circuit wrongly upheld Hirshfeld’s delegated authority when he stepped in to run the agency, violating the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and its strict succession requirements.

“The PTO’s actions here flout those requirements,” the petition said. “The PTO simply made up its own succession plan by ‘delegating’ all the Director’s ...