[20210629]LSB10615_最高法院保留专利审判和上诉委员会但有更大的行政监督.pdf

CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Supreme Court Preserves Patent Trial and Appeal Board, but with Greater Executive Oversight June 29, 2021 In 2011, Congress enacted a major patent reform bill, the LeahySmith America Invents Act (AIA). Among other things, the AIA created new adversarial administrative proceedings within the Patent and Trademark Office to review the validity of already-issued patents and cancel those that should not have been issued. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) conducts these proceedings, which include inter partes review (IPR) (as well as other procedures like post-grant review). PTAB consists primarily of hundreds of administrative patent judges (APJs), who sit in panels of three to rule on the validity of patents challenged through IPR. The Secretary of Commerce (the Secretary), in consultation with the Director of the Patent and Trademark Office (the Director), appoints APJs to the PTAB. Because of the economic importance of patent rights, millions or even billions of dollars may be at stake in these proceedings. The Supreme Court agreed to hear United States v. Arthrex to determine wheth