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SCOTUS to review IPR legality

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-patents-idUSKCN0UT2O3

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider whether new procedures for challenging patents have made it too difficult for inventors to defend their claims.
At the heart of the case are regulations issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office after Congress in 2011 passed legislation to overhaul the nation's patent system. The law came amid concerns there were too many weak patents in the system and it was too expensive and time-consuming to challenge them.
Now, some in the business community say the momentum has shifted too far in the other direction.
The law created several procedures that allowed individuals or companies to bring speedier, more efficient patent challenges directly at the Patent Office, instead of in federal court litigation.
Critics, including companies and industry groups that favor strong patent rights, say the procedures are problematic because the Patent Office has instituted rules for considering challenges that differ from those followed by federal judges.
The Patent Office says its rules are consistent with long-standing policy and the intent of Congress.
The case before the high court involves Cuozzo Speed Technologies, a firm that owns a patent for an invention that alerts drivers when they are speeding. GPS technology company Garmin Ltd. brought a challenge at the Patent Office, which invalidated key claims of the Cuozzo patent on the grounds that the claims weren't truly innovative in light of prior inventions.
Cuozzo's petition to the high court argues the Patent Office interprets claims in a way that makes them more vulnerable to challenges than they would be in a federal court.
The company said more than 80% of the challenges brought under one new Patent Office procedure have resulted in the cancellation of some or all claims contained in the patent under review.
A specialized federal appeals court in Washington upheld the Patent Office rules, but several judges on the court criticized the ruling.
More than a dozen companies, including Johnson & Johnson, Monsanto Co. and Pfizer Inc., and trade groups representing the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries filed briefs urging the high court to hear Cuozzo's appeal.
The court is likely to hear oral arguments in the spring, with a decision expected by July.