Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
ORCID (Links to author’s additional scholarship at ORCID.org)
Abstract
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit holds a unique and powerful position in the patent system. It exercises exclusive jurisdiction over appeals in patent cases, which, short of Supreme Court intervention, empowers the court to set national patent law. But since passage of the America Invents Act, at least with respect to resolving often multimillion dollar disputes over patent validity, there is another, more powerful government institution: the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Given its significant new power over disputes regarding patent validity, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board has been the subject of numerous disputes resolved by the Federal Circuit and Supreme Court, and there also is a developing body of scholarship related to its judges, procedures, and decision making. In this article, however, I explore an underdeveloped area of study of both the Federal Circuit and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. I study the relationship of the Federal Circuit and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board as a matter of institutional choice. I analyze ten years' worth of caselaw that provides insights into the different ways the two institutions decide cases. I also analyze ten years' worth of data regarding the Federal Circuit's review of decisions of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. This analysis reveals the impact of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board on the patent system and the Federal Circuit itself
Publication Title
Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society
Document Type
Article
Keywords
U.S. Court of Appeals, Patents, Patent law and legislation, Patent system, Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, Patent Trial and Appeal Board, Patent suits, Caselaw, Federal Circuit decisions, USPTO
Recommended Citation
David O. Taylor, The Federal Circuit and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, 103 J. PAT. & TRADEMARK OFF. SOC'Y 395 (2023)
