Supreme Court Defers to PTAB on BRI Claim Construction and Institution Appeals
The US Supreme Court has affirmed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) use of the broadest reasonable interpretation (BRI) standard for inter partes review (IPR) proceedings, ruling in Cuozzo Speed Technologies v. Lee (2015-446) that the Patent Office had acted within the rulemaking authority granted to it by Congress when it mandated that standard. In an opinion issued on June 20, the Court also held that IPR institution decisions are statutorily barred from judicial review, further asserting that a ruling to the contrary would contradict Congress’ clear intent to grant the Patent Office “significant power” to review and revise patent grants.