PTO Patent Review Proceedings Constitutional, Feds Tell Justices

The U.S. government told the Supreme Court that how it appoints judges to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board is constitutional, and that it should reject Arthrex Inc.'s contrary argument based on a controversial Federal Circuit ruling.

The Jan. 22 brief—written in part by Elizabeth B. Prelogar, President Biden’s acting solicitor general—argues that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit wrongly found PTAB judges were too powerful to be appointed without first being nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

But the brief also says if that decision is affirmed, the ...