Patent Board Withstands Constitutional Attack at Federal Circuit

The Federal Circuit shot down a constitutional challenge to a US Patent and Trademark Office tribunal’s authority to cancel previously granted patents.

Charles Shamoon Sr., through his old company, filed a handful of suits alleging smart home products including those sold by Central Security Group-Nationwide Inc., TXU Energy Retail Co., and CPS Energy, infringed US Patent No. 8,064,935., which was issued in November 2011 before the America Invents Act took effect.

That statute created a new system where companies sued for patent infringement could file administrative challenges at the PTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board to ...