The Federal Circuit has ruled that appellate review is available for USPTO decisions not to initiate reexaminations based on inter partes review (IPR) estoppel, which bars reexam requests by petitioners whose IPRs against the same claims have reached final written decisions. In Alarm.com v. Hirshfeld, the court held in a February 24 precedential decision that the Eastern District of Virginia was wrong to reject an Administrative Procedure Act (APA) lawsuit challenging a reexam denial on that basis. The Federal Circuit instead concluded, contrary to the district court, that the relevant statutory scheme does not preclude appeals of IPR estoppel decisions with respect to reexams. The decision comes less than a month after the Federal Circuit broadened the applicable standard for IPR estoppel as applied in district court—an already wider-reaching requirement than for reexams.