Supreme Court Spurns Challenge to Fed. Cir. Rule 36 Judgments

The US Supreme Court rejected a bid Monday to end the Federal Circuit’s use of one-word judgments to affirm decisions issued by an administrative tribunal that assesses the validity of patents.

ParkerVision Inc., which owns a portfolio of radio frequency patents, petitioned the high court on Nov. 4 over a pair of Rule 36 judgments affirming a pair of unfavorable Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions. The company argued a section of the Patent Act describing appeals from US Patent and Trademark Office actions expressly requires the Federal Circuit to issue opinions setting out the court’s reasoning for sustaining decisions ...