1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

POWER INTEGRATIONS, INC., Plaintiff,

v. HON. DAVID KAPPOS, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director, United States Patent and Trademark Office, Defendant. Civil Action No. 11
- cv - 01254 (BJR)
M EMORANDUM OPINION

G RANTING D EFENDANT ’ S M OTION TO D ISMISS Before the Court is a motion by Defendant David Kappos, Director of the United States
Paten t and Trademark Office , to dismiss the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) or, in the alternative, for transfer to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The suit by Plaintiff Power Integrations , a patent

owner, asks this Court to review a decision made by the USPTO’s Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (“BPAI”) in a patent reexamination proceeding

. 1 USPTO Director Kappos (hereinafter “USPTO”) argues that under the Patent Act, patent owners may seek court review only in the Federal Circuit, and not in this Court. Thus, Defendant moves to dismiss the case or, in the alternative, transfer it to the Federal Circuit. Power Integrations has also mo ved for partial summary judgment, seeking declaratory relief on the jurisdiction question. A s explained in further detail below, t he 1999 amendments to the Patent Act removed this Court ’ s jurisdiction over Plaintiff ’ s claim , and for that reason Defendant ’ s Motion to Dismiss must be granted.

1 The BPAI was renamed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board following the USPTO decision at issue in this case. See Leahy

- Smith America Invents Act, Pub. L. No. 112

- 29, 125 Stat 284, 290 (2011).2 I. STATUTORY FRAMEWORK A. The Patent Reexamina tion Process Under the Patent Act, patent owners and third parties may initiate a “reexamination” proceeding to confirm or challenge the validity of a previously issued patent. See 35 U.S.C. §§
302

- 307. 35 U.S.C. § 302 gives “any person at any time” the right to request a reexamination, and describes the requirements for such a request. T he Director of the USPTO then determines whether the reexamination request raises a “substantial new question of patentability.” 35 U.S.C. § 303. If not, the reexamination request is denied. Id. If a substantia l new question of patentability does exist, the Director orders a reexamination and gives both the owner and (if different) the requester opportunity to weigh in. Id. § 304. At that poin t, the reexamination goes forward “ according to the procedures established for initial examination ”

– that is, the process undertaken by the USPTO to examine a new patent application

. Id. § 305. Once the patent examiner delivers a final decision, 35 U. S.C. § 306 governs the rights of patent owners to appeal. At all times relevant to this case, section 306 read as follows: The patent owner involved in a reexamination proceeding under this chapter may appeal under the provisions of section 134 of this t itle, and may seek court review under the provisions of sections 141 to 145 of this title, with respect to any decision adverse to the patentability of any original or proposed amended or new claim of the patent. 35 U.S.C. § 306 (2006 )

. This case concern s the scope of the right to “seek court review,” as explained and expressed in the language of sections 134, 141 and 145 . These sections, unlike section 306, have undergone several revisions. B. The 1999 Amendments to the Patent Act3 In 1999, the American Inventors Protection Act (“AIPA”), Pub. L. No. 106

– 113, 113 Stat. 1501 (1999) rev ised s ections 134, 141, and 145 , among other things

. T he AIPA left s ection 306 intact. Congress also created an inter partes reexamination procedure, which supp lemented the existing ex parte procedure by providing an alternative route for third parties wishing to participate in the reexamination process and take appeal. See 35 U.S.C. §§ 311

- 19. The salient aspects of these amendments are described below. i. Section 134 In 1980, when Congress originally created the ree xamination procedure and added

s ect ion 306 to the Patent Act, the appeal provisions of s ection 134 referred only to patent applicants. Congress left that aspect of the statute unchanged when it crea ted the reexamination procedure in 1980 , so f rom 1980 u ntil 1999, s ection 134 provided : An applicant for a patent, any of whose claims has been twice rejected, may appeal from the decision of the primary examiner to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, having once paid the fe e for such appeal. 35 U.S.C. § 134 (1994 ). However, in 1999 Congress revised s ection 134 to add a reference to patent owners, and to separate “patent applicants ,” “patent owners , ” and “third parties.” After the 199 9 amendments, section 134 read : (a) Patent applicant.

— An applicant for a patent, any of whose claims has been twice rejected, may appeal from the decision of the primary examiner to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, having once paid the fee fo r such appeal. (b) Patent owner.

— A patent owner in any reexamination proceeding may appeal from the final rejection of any claim by the primary examiner to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, having once paid the fee for such appeal. (c) Third
- party.

— A third

- party requester in an inter partes proceeding may appeal to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences from the final decision of the primary examiner favorable to the patentability of any original or proposed amended or new claim o f a patent, having onc e paid the fee for such appeal. 35 U.S.C. § 134 (2006).4 ii. Section 141 Before 1999, s ection 141 (like section 134) made no mention of patent owners. It provided, in relevant part: An applicant dissatisfied with the decision in an appeal to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences under section 134 of this title may appeal the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. By filing such an appeal the ap plicant waives his or her right to proceed under section 145 of this title. 35 U.S.C. § 141 (1994). In 1999, Congress added a sentence dealing explicitly with the appeal rights of patent owners, such that the rele vant section, including minimal amendments in 2000 and 2002, read as follows: An applicant dissatisfied with the decision in an appeal to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences under section 134 of this title may appeal the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fe deral Circuit. By filing such an appeal the applicant waives his or her right to proceed under section 145 of this title. A patent owner, or a third

- party requester in an inter partes reexamination proceeding, who is in any reexamination proceeding dissati sfied with the final decision in an appeal to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences under section 134 may appeal the decision only to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. 35 U.S.C. § 141 (2006). iii. Section 145 Section 145 provides , as an alternative to a Federal Circuit appeal , the right to bring a “civil action” in district court to establish patent rights following an unsatisfactory decision by the BPAI

. Unlike an appeal under s ectio n 141, the district court in a s ection 145 can admit new evidence and “must make its own findings de novo .” Kappos v. Hyatt , 132 S. Ct. 1690, 1696 (2012)

. T he extent to which this alternative route is available to patent owners lies at the h eart of this dispute

. Prior to 1999, s ection 145 provided, in relevant part:5 An applicant dissatisfied with the decision of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences in an appeal under section 134 of this title may unless appeal has been taken to the United States Court of Appeals for th e Federal Circuit, have remedy by civil action against the Commissioner in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia if commenced within such time after such decision, not less than sixty days, as the Commissioner appoints.
35 U.S.C. § 145 (199 4). In 1999, Congress revised s ection 145 to replace the reference to “section 134” with “section 134(a).” Thus, after enactment of the AIPA in 1999,

s ection 145 refe rs specifically to part (a) of s ection 134, which authorizes BPAI appeals for “patent applicant[s].” See 35 U.S.C. § 134 (a) (2006)

. iv. Inter Partes Procedure Because the reexamination at issue in this case was ex parte , the only element of the inter partes procedure at issue in thi s case is the appeal provision, originally codified at 35 U.S.C. § 315. 2 The AIPA provided that the owner of a p atent that was challenged in an inter partes proceeding “may appeal under the provisions of secti on 134 and may appeal under the provisions of sections 141 through 144, with respect to any decision adverse to the patentability of any original or proposed amen ded or new claim of the patent.” 35 U.S.C. § 315 (2006). This appeal provision is separate from the appeal provisions governing patent owners in ex par te proceedings, described above. C . The 2011 Amendments to the Patent Act On September 16, 2011, Congress passed the Leahy

- Smith America Invents Act (AIA), Pub. L. No. 112

- 29, 125 Stat

. 284 (2011) , which made changes to s ections 134, 141, 145, and 306 of Title 35, as well as to the jurisdiction statute governing the Federal Circuit

.

2 Congress revised the inter partes section of the Patent Act in 2011. The appeal provision now appears at 35 U.S.C. § 319, in a somewhat altered form. See Pub. L. 112

- 29 § 6(a), 125 Stat. at 304.6 The 2011 amendments to the relevant portions of section 134 and s ection 145 were minimal. In s ection 134, Congress replaced “any reex amination with “a reexamination.” See Pub. L. No. 112

- 29 § 7(b), 125 Stat

. 284, 313

- 14 (2011). Congress also replaced this Court with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in a technical amen dment to s ection 145, leaving that section otherwise unchanged. I d. § 9(a), 125 Stat. at 316. Section 141, which authorizes appeals to the Federal Circuit, was reorganized in 2011 to separate “examinations” and “reexaminations.” Id. § 7(c)(1), 125 Stat. at 314. As reorganized, s ection 141(a) authorizes appeals from initial examinations and section 141(b) authorizes appeals from reexamin ations, but

– apart from changing “any reexamination” to “a reexamination”

– the 2011 a mendments left the language of s ection 141 intact. See id. Finally, Congress revised s ection 306 to substitute “144” for “145,” such that the post

- 2011 version of the statute allows patent owners to “seek court review under the provisions of sections 141 to 144.” See id. § 6(h)(2)(A) , 125 Stat at 312. Congres s attached different effective dates to these revisions, but no provisi on was retroactive. The minimal change to s ection 134 took effect one year from the date of enactment, and applied only to reexamination proceedings commenced on or after that date. I d. § 7(e), 125 Stat. at 315. The technica l revision concerning venue in s ection 145 took effect on the date of enactment, and only applied to civil actions commenced on or after that date. Id. § 9(b), 125 Stat. at 316. The reorgan ization and minor revisions in s ection 141 took effect one year after the date of enactment, and applied only to proceedings commenced on or after that date. Id. § 7(e), 125 Stat. at 315. The revision to s ection 306, perhaps the most pertinent in this case, took effect7 on the date of enactment and applied “to any appeal of a reexamination before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences or the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that is pending on, or brought on or after, the date of the enactment of this Act. ” Id. § 6(h)(2 )(B) , 125 Stat. at 312

- 13

.

II . FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Power Integrations owns United States Patent No. 6,249,876 (hereinafter the “876 patent”) entitled “Frequency Jittering Control for Varying the Switching Frequency of a Power Supply.” Compl. ¶ 2. On October 20, 2004, in a separate litigation, Power Integrations brought a patent infringement claim against Fairchild Semiconductor in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. 3 During the course of that litigation, the defendant Fairchild Semiconductor requested an ex parte re - examination of patent claims 1 and 17

- 19 in the 876 patent. Compl. ¶ 7. The patent examiner reexamined the 876 patent and found that the challenged clai ms were anticipated by an earlier patent and two published articles. Id. ¶ 8; se e 35 U.S.C. § 102 (precluding patents on inventions previously patented or described in a printed publication). USPTO issued the examiner’s “Final Office Action” on July 9, 2 009. Compl. ¶ 8. P ower Integrations appealed the examiner’s determination to the BPAI, and the BPAI affirmed the examiner’s decision on December 22, 2010. Id. ¶ 9. The BPAI denied a petition for rehearing on May 11, 2011. Id. Power Integrations then filed suit in this Court, seeking review of the BPAI’s decision. According to Power Integrations , the BPAI erred when it evaluated the 876 patent by applying the wrong definition of “couple,” in violation of case law and the USPTO’s manual, and contrary to a declaratory finding made by the Delaware district court in the Fairchild

3 See Power Integrations, Inc. v. Fairchild Semiconductor Int’l, Inc. , No. 04

- 1371 (D. Del., filed Oct. 20, 2004).8 infringement litigation. Id. ¶¶ 10

- 13. Power Integrations requests from this Court a declaratory judgment that it was entitled to the patent, reversal of the BPAI’s ruling, and remand to the USPTO with orders to issue a reexamination certificate confirming the patentability of the c laims in the 876 patent. Id. , Request for Relief. In the Complaint, Power Integrations cites 35 U.S.C. § 145 and 35 U.S.C. § 306 as granting this Court jurisdiction to review decisions of the BPAI. Id. ¶ 4

- 5. Power Integrations

avers that it has not app ealed the BPAI’s decision to the Federal Circuit. Id. ¶ 17. USPTO moves to dismiss , arguing that patent owner s may seek review of ex parte reexamination decisions only in the Federal Circuit. See Def’s Motion to Dismiss, or, in the Alternative, to
Trans fer Case to Federal Circuit (hereinafter “Def’s Mot.”). Power Integrations moves for partial summary judgment on essentially the same question, requesting a declaration that this Court has jurisdiction to review ex parte reexamination decisions. See Pl’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (hereinafter “Pl’s Mot.”).

III. LEGAL STANDARD 4 When a party files a motion to dismiss for lack of subject

- matter jurisdiction under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1), “the plaintiff[ ] bear[s] the burden of proving by a p reponderance of the evidence that the Court has subject matter jurisdiction.” Biton v. Palestinian Interim Self

- Gov’t Auth ., 310 F. Supp. 2d 172, 176 (D.D.C. 2004). The court must accept as true all factual allegations in the complaint, but those allegatio ns “will bear closer scrutiny in resolving a 12(b)(1) motion than in resolving a 12(b)(6) motion for failure to state a claim.” Id. (internal quotations omitted). Because subject

- matter jurisdiction focuses on a court’s power to hear the

4 Bec ause the Court grants the USPTO’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, it is unnecessary to put forth the legal standard governing motions for summary judgment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 56.9 plaintiff’s claim, a Rule 12(b)(1) motion imposes on the court an affirmative obligation to ensure that it is acting within the scope of its jurisdictional authority. Grand Lodge of Fraternal Order of Police v. Ashcroft , 185 F. Supp. 2d 9, 13 (D.D.C. 2001).

IV. DISCUSSION This dispute hinges on whether the 1999 amendments to the Patent Act removed from patent owners the right to seek review in district court of a reexamination decision m ade by the
BPAI . Power Integrations argues that because the relevant version of section 306 explicitly

r eferenced section 145, the right to “seek court review” enshrined in section 306 includes the right to challenge BPAI decisions in this Court under section 145. Pl’s Mot. at 11. According to Power Integrations, Congress’s decision not to amend section 306 in 1999 further supports that view. Power Integrations argues that “Congress deliberately chose section 306 as the vehicle to create a freestanding cause of action for patent owners in this Court,” so any change to that cause of action must involve a mending section 306. Id. at 15. Power Integrations also contends that the differences in language between section 306 and the inter partes ap peal provision clearly signal Congress’s intent to preserve both avenues of review for ex parte reexaminations. Pl’s Mot. at 17; compare 35 U.S.C. § 306 (permitting “court review under the provisions of sections 141 to 145”), with 35 U.S.C. § 315 (2006) (permitting “appeal under the provisions of sections 141 through 144 ” ). Under this argume nt, the omission of sec tion 145 in the inter partes appeal provision, and the use of “appeal” rather than “court review,” indicate that Congress intended to preserve de novo review in district court for patent owners who receive adverse decisions from the BPAI in ex parte reexam ination proceedings. Power Integrations suggests that because inter partes proceedings are more exhaustive, and more10 closely resemble litigation, it would make sense for Congress to limit judicial review in those cases while retaining two avenues of court review for ex parte proceedings. Pl’s Mot. at 18, n. 5. Finally, Power Integrations cites to the legislative history of the 1999 amendments, and prior attempts to amend section 306, in support of the proposition that the 1999 amendments were meant to establish inter partes procedure, not to alter the ex parte procedure or judicial review. Id. at 19

- 21. The USPTO argues that the 1999 amendments fundamentally changed patent owners’ right to judicial review. Specifically, the USPTO points to the amendments Congress made to section s 134, 141, and 145 as evidence that Congress intended to remove from patent owners the right to re view in this Court. In the USPTO’s view, patent owners possessed a right to district court review prior to the 1999 amendments, despite the lack of any reference to patent owners in section 145, because the courts naturally construed “applicant” in § 145 to cover patent owners as well. See Def’s Mot. at 6 (citing Joy Techs., Inv. v. Manbeck , 751 F. Supp. 225, 2 35

- 36 (D.D.C. 1990) ). But after the 1999 amendments, the USPTO argues, it is “no longer appropriate to construe ‘applicant’ in § 145 to cover pate nt owners” because section s 134, 141, and 145 were specifically amended to describe the appeal rights of “patent owners

. ” Id. at 8. The USPTO points to three revisions that, it contends, foreclose this cause of action: (1) Congress inserted into section 134 a specific clause , 134(b), delineating the right of “patent owners” to appeal reex amination decisions to the BPAI; (2) Congress narrowed the language of section 145 to “ appeal[s] under section 134(a) ” ; and (3) Congress added a sentence to section 141 prov iding that “[a] patent owner...in any reexamination proceeding...may appeal the decision only to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.”11 The USPTO interprets section 306 as merely cross

- referencing the sections of the Patent Act that conc ern judicial review, such that judicial review is authorized under section 306 only to the extent permitted under those other sections. See Def’s Mot. at 12. Though section 306, post

1999, still referred to the right to “ seek court review” under section 145 (a right USPTO contends no longer existed at that time), the USPTO argues that section 306 must be read in pari
materia with the other sections. Id. at 15. In the USPTO’s view, reading section 306 to grant a rig ht of action that other, later

- amended sections expressly foreclose would achieve a nonsensical result. Id. As the Court explains below, the USPTO has the better argument. A. The Judicial Review Rights of Patent Owners Prior to 1999 Congress created the reexamination procedure in 1980, and g ave patent owners the right to appeal internally to BPAI, and externally to the courts, through section 306. However, the provisions authorizing internal appeal and external “court review,” though identified in section 306, made no reference to patent own ers at the time. In Joy Techs., Inv. v. Manbeck , the court acknowledged that “‘applicant’ does not precisely describe [a patent owner’s] status,” but still permitted an action by a patent owner because “viewing section 145 as a whole, it is clear that ‘applicant’ in the statute applies both to a patent applicant... and to a patent owner .” 751 F. Supp. at 2 35

- 36

. As the court explained: Section 306 makes the court review provisions of section 145 applicable in reexamination proceedings; however, section 145 uses only the term “applicant” in referring to the party bringing the action. If section 145 is to cover civil actions arising from reexamination proceedings, the term “applicant” in that section must be construed to cover patent owners bringing those actions. Id. at 236. Other courts have read the 1980 amendments in the same way. S ee Sigram Schindler Beteiligungsgesellschaft MBH v. Kappos, 675 F. Supp. 2d 629, 631

- 32 (E.D.Va. 2009) ( recognizing that prior to 1999, patent owners could elect to pursue court review in the Federal12 Circuit or in district court, because section 306 “ effectively applied the court review provisions governing patent applicants to patent owners involved in ex parte patent reexaminations ”); Teles AG v. Kappos , 846 F. Supp. 2d 102, 109 (D.D.C. 2012) (same) (citing Sigram Schindler ) , appeal docketed , No. 12

- 1297 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 2, 2012) ; Syntex (U.S.A.) Inc. v. U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, 882 F.2d 1570, 1572 (Fed. Cir. 1989) (“Under the patent statute, the patent owner is giv en a right to review of an examiner's final reexamination decision, 35 U.S.C. § 306 (1982), first before the PTO Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences under section 134 , and then either by direct appeal of the board's decision to [ the Federal Circuit] under section 141, or by suit against the PTO in district court with a right of appeal to [ the Federal Circuit] under section
145 .”). The parties apparently agree that prior to 1999, patent owners enjoyed the right to court review under either avenue. Power Integrations c ontends that the 1 999 amendments left this reading of section 306 intact. The USPTO asserts that the 1999 amendments to section s 134, 141, and 145 cannot be so rea dily dismissed. This Court must therefor examine the 1999 amendments to determine what effe ct they had on the statutory scheme for court review of ex parte patent reexaminations. In construing the statute, this Cou rt recognizes the principle that “when a statute speaks with clarity to an issue, judicial inquiry into the statute 's meaning, in a ll but the most extraordinary circumstance, is finished.” AT & T v. FCC, 452 F.3d 830, 835 (D.C. Cir. 2006) (explaining that under “traditional tools of statutory construction,” the court “begin[s] , as always, with the plain language of the statute.”) (cit ations omitted). Furthermore, a court must if possible “give meaning to every clause of the statute.” Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 407 (2000).13 The parties drape their respec tive arguments on several proposed canons of statutory

cons truction, but the Court hesitates to indulge in that exercise where the language of the statute
i s plain and unambiguous. In this case Cong ressional intent emerges with reasonable clarity from the text, and any tension between provisions is easily resolved without resort t o dueling

canons. B. The Effect of the 1999 Amendments The 1999 amendments go beyond mere housekeeping or reorganization. Where the internal and external appeal provisions previously contained no reference to patent owners, after 1999 the statute specifically describes the appeal rights of “ patent owners ” in section s 134 and
141. S ection 134 expressly grants “ patent owners ” the right to appeal reexamination decisions to the BPAI

. See 35 U.S.C. § 134(b) (2006). Under section 141, a “patent owner” in “any reexamination proceeding” may appeal from the BPAI ’ s “ only to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. ” Id. § 141 (2006) (emphasis added)

. Congress amended section 145 such that, by its plain language, it applies only to “an applicant dissatisfied with the decision of the Board of Patent Appe als and Interferences in an appeal under section 134(a) of this title .” Id. § 145 (2006) (emphasis added)

. A fter these amendments, the Joy Techs rationale no longer applies. Courts have no justification for continuing to construe the word “applicant” i n section 145 to include patent

owners . See Teles AG , 846 F. Supp. 2d at 111 (“[t] he logic of Joy Technologies, construing “patent applicants” to include “patent owners,” is no longer applicable because the plain meaning of section 145 indicates otherwise”). Congress expressly attended to the rights of patent owners
in section s 134 and 141. Also, Congress apparently fe lt the need to clarify that the term “applicant” in section 145 refers to a party “ dissatisfied with the de cision of the [BPAI] in an14 appeal under section 134(a) of this title .” 35 U.S.C. § 145 (2006) (emphasis added). P ermitting review in this Court would directly contradict the amended language of section 145, as well as the amended language of section 141, which authorizes appeal by patent owners “only” to the Federal Circuit. 35 U.S.C. § 141 (2006). To cling to the rationale of Joy Techs , as Power Integrations suggests, would effectively ignore the 1999 amendments. C. Section 306 Must Be Read in Light of the 1999 Amendments Power Integrations argues that despite the 1999 amendments, section 306 creates a freestanding cause of action that could not disappear without a direct amendment that section itself . In fact, Power Integrations gives the impression in its briefs that, absent an amendment to section 306, there was very little Congress could do in 1999 that would ever have affected the right of pate nt owners to judicial review . This position invests section 306 with more weight than it can bear. True, t he 1999 amendments created some “tension” with respect to section 306. Teles
AG , 846 F. Supp. 2d at 114 (quoting Sigram Schindler, 675 F. Supp. 2d at 633 ). Section 306 refers to “court review under the pr ovisions of sections 141 to 145

. ” A s discussed in Part I(B) (ii) and (iii) , supra , the post

- AIPA version of section 145 plainly authorizes only patent “applicants”

to pursue review in district court, and the revised language of section 141 allows patent owners to “appeal the [BPAI] decision only to th e United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.” 35 U.S.C. § § 141, 145 (2006). 5

5 The parties also dispute the significance of C ongress’s language in describing the inter partes appeals

. Compare 35 U.S.C. §306 (2006) (authorizing “court review under the provisions of sections 141 to 145”), with 35 U.S.C. § 315 (2006) (authorizing “appeal under the provisions of sections 141 to 144”). I f Congress intended to preclude patent owners and third parties from bringing section 145 actions in any reexamination proceeding, Power Integrations asks , why di d it draft the inter partes appeal provision to exclude section 145 while leaving section 306 unamended? Pl’s Mot. at 17. This is a provocative question, but t he inter partes appeal provisions have limited relevance here. None of the statutory provision s at issue in this case rely upon the m. T he ultimate determinant of a patent owner’s appeal rights in an ex parte reexamination is the language of the applicable statutory provisions, viz.15 The Court has two options to reconcil e this tension. Under the reading proposed by Power Integrations, section 306’s grant of court review supersedes the 1999 amendme nts, because it exists independently of any tinkering that Congress might do with the substantive appeal provisions contained in section s 141 to 145. Under the USPTO’s view, section 306 grants patent owners whatever appeal rights Congress sees fit to conf er in section s 141 through 145, and Congress need not amend section 306 in order to close off one avenue for appeal. Though both arguments are colorable in the abstract, only the second reflects the language of the statute and gives a harmonious meaning to all its provisions. Power Integrations essentially asks this Court to ignore the plain language of the 1999 amendments, in favor of a lingering cross

reference and a line of cases that no longer applies. The USPTO’s reading, by contrast, gives effect to all the statutory provisions and harmonizes them

. See Teles AG, 846 F. Supp. 2d at 113

- 14 (“ To give effect to the statutory provisions here, the Court unders tands section 306 as providing that patent owners in ex parte reexam ination proceedings are entitled to whateve r judicial review is available ‘ under’ the curren t provisions of §§ 141 and 145... Any other reading of section 306 would be incompatible with the express terms of the post

– 1999 amended sections 141 and 145. ”) (citat ions omitted).
D. Applicable Case Law Support s the USPTO’s Reading 6

section s 134, 141, and 145. See Teles AG , 845 F. Supp. 2d at 114 (rejecting the same argument “because the plaintiffs do not, and cannot, reconcile this reading of section 306 with the plain language of sections 141 and 145.”) 6 T he Court finds nothing determinative or ultimately persuasive in the legislative history o f the 1999 amendments. Judge Howell, in Teles AG , th oroughly summarized pre - 1999 legislative efforts to remove patent owners’ right to district court review of ex parte reexaminations , as well as the sequence of events leading to passage of the AIPA in 19 99

. See Teles AG , 845 F. Supp. 2d at 114

- 17. W hat legislative history exists as to the 1999 amendments supports the USPTO’s reading of the statute. See id. (explaining that the the AIPA and prior version s of the amendments were intended to streamline the reexamination process as a viable alternative to infringement litigation). However, the Court does not view the legislative history as so conclusive as to merit any special reliance. It is true that pre

1999 amendments to the Patent Act revised section 306 to provide “court review under the provisions of sections 141 to 144” only, and not section 145. See id. at 115

- 16. Arguably, these unenacted bills suggest that when Congress eventually did amend the Patent Act, leaving section 306 intact, the intent of the legislature was to preserve district court review for patent owners in ex parte reexaminations

. “[W] here Congress includes limiting language in an earlier version of a bill but deletes it prior to enactment, it may b e presumed that the limitation was16 As noted above, the logic underlying Joy Techs has n o currency in a post

- AIPA world.
T he Joy Techs line of cases c onstrued the Patent Act based on the absence of any reference to

“ patent owners ” in the statute’s substantive appeal provisions . Congress fixed that problem with the 1999 amendments. C ases applying the pre

- 1999 ve rsion of the law offer Power Integrations no support. See Teles AG , 846 F. Supp. 2d at 110 (“ The law has changed since the Joy Technologies court issued its opinion, however, and its reasoning with respect to 35 U.S.C. § 306 no longer applies ”). Teles AG is the only case to squarely address the issue, under the version of the law applicable to this case. In a well

- reasoned opinion, Judge Howell considered the langua ge of the 1999 amendments, the pre

- AIPA line of cas es, and the legislative history , and determined that patent owners have no right to a district court action under section 145. 846 F. Supp. 2d at 109

. The court focused on Congress ’ s direct treatment of patent owners in the 1999 amendments. See id. ( “ [T] he 1999 amendm ents, which for the first time revised sections 134 and 141 to specifically refer to the rights of patent owners, as opposed to patent applicants, while restricting coverage of section 145 to patent applicants, removed this Court's jurisdiction to hear the plaintiffs' claims ” )

. Power Integrations cite s one case, Canady v. Erbe Elektromedizin GMBH, 271 F. Supp. 2d 64 (D.D.C. 2002) , for the proposition that a patent owner’s right to district court review survived the 1999 amendments. Canady concerned w hether to lift a stay imposed due to pending

not intended.” Russello v. United States, 464 U.S. 16, 23 (1983). But the unenacted versions do not conclusively establish the meaning of the amendments that Congress actually enacted, and the principle recited in Russello does not hold where “other sections...cut against [a party’s] reading” of the statute. Tarrant Reg'l Water Dist. v. Herrmann , 133 S. Ct. 2120, 2131 (2013)

. That is certainly the case here. The history reveals no particular reason why Congress cho se not to amend section 306 in 1999. See Teles AG , 845 F. Supp. 2d at 117 (explaining that “changes were made” but identifying no explanation in the legislative history)

. Judge Howell found “no indication or comment in the legislative history that the re moval of the [pre

- 1999] amendments to section 306 in any way changed the patent owners' right to appeal from what was intended in [the original version of the bill that became the AIPA].” Id. The Court concurs, and also emphasizes that confirmation from the legislative history is unnecessary where, as here, the intent of Congress presents itself in the plain language of the amended statute.17 ex parte reexamination proceedings. Id. at 65. I n that case the court was notifying the parties as to the “ Guiding Standard of Review for an Appeal of the PTO's Decision to This Court ,” which the court presumably intended to apply should the patent owner in that case receive an adverse BPAI decision and decide to challenge it in district court

. T he court suggested that “the party that receives an adverse decision from t he PTO's pending reexamination... may appeal to the [BPAI],” and “[w] hen administrative remedies have been exhausted, that party may appeal to either this court or to the Federal Circuit. ” Id. a t 77

- 78 (citing 35 U.S.C. § 306). This statement was u nquestionably dicta, an d focused not on the court’s jurisdiction but on the proper standard for reviewing the BPAI’s findings. Id. By contrast, other courts have suggested (albeit in dicta) that the Federal Circuit is the only avenue for patent owners to appeal adverse ex parte reexamination de cisions

. See , e.g. , Fresenius Med. Care Holdings, Inc. v. Baxter Int'l, Inc. , C 03

- 1431 SBA, 2007 WL 1655625 at *5 (N.D. Cal. June 7, 2007) (“ Moreover, if any claim were ultimately rejected by the PTO, [patent owner] could appeal the examiner's decision to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, which decision could in turn be appealed to the Federal Circuit”) ( citing 35 U.S.C. § 134(b); 35 U.S.C. § 141 ); Flexiteek Americas, Inc. v. PlasTEAK, Inc. , 08

- 60996

- CIV, 2012 WL 536 4263 at *9 (S.D. Fla. Sept. 10, 2012) , report and recommendation adopted as modified , 08

- 60996

- CIV, 2012 WL 5364247 (S.D. Fla. Oct. 31, 2012) (“ Once the PTO has completed its [ ex parte ] reexamination , the patent owner may appeal the PTO's cancellation of a ny claim to the BPAI and, the reafter, to the Federal Circuit”) (citing 35 U.S.C. § 306)

. 7 These statements carry little weight, as they were made

7 See also Heinl v. Godici , 143 F. Supp. 2d 593 (E.D. Va. 2001). The court in Heinl denied a patent owner’s motion to enjoin the USPTO from undertaking a second reexamination of a patent , because granting a reexamination is not final agency action. Id. at 597

- 98. In the context of explaining why, the court described the internal and ex ternal appeals process for reexaminations, and stated that “ judicial review may then appropriately be sought in either the Federal Circuit based on the administrative record or the District Court for the District of Columbia in a trial de novo. ” Id. at 59 8 (citing 35 U.S.C. § 306. This statement was dicta, like that in Canady and the others quoted herein, and it offers just as little support.18 without any jurisdictional analysis. Teles AG is the only case on point, and t his Court agrees with its interpretation of the statute

. E. The 2011 Amendments Confirmed the Changes Made in 1999 8 In 2011, Congress resolved the “tension” described in Part IV(C) , supra , by striking section 306’s reference to section 145

. See Pub. L. No. 112

- 29 § 6(h)(2)(A), 125 Stat. 284, 312 (2011) (“ Section 306 of title 35, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘145’ and inserting
‘144.’ ” ). The USPTO argues that Congress was simply clarifying the state of the law by cleaning up section 305 to conform to section s 141 and 145. Power Integrations suggests that the 2011 amendments must have worked a substantive change in the law, because amending section 306 would have been unnecessary if the 1999 AIPA had already removed the right of patent owners to review ex par te reexaminations in district court. The Court notes that “ when a legislative or executive body adopts a new clarifying law or rule, it does not necessarily follow that an earlier version did not have the same meaning. ” Baptist Mem'l Hosp.

- Golden Triang le v. Sebelius , 566 F.3d 226, 229 (D.C. Cir. 2009) (citing Brown v. Thompson, 374 F.3d 253, 259 (4th Cir.2004) ; Piamba Cortes v. American Airlines, Inc., 177 F.3d 1272, 1283 (11th Cir.1999) ). In this case t he Court finds that Congress intended the 2011 amendme nts to conform to the 1999 amendments, not to change the law

. See H.R. Rep. No. 112

– 98(I), at 77 (2011), 2011 U.S.C.C.A.N. 67, 102 ([ section ] 306 is amended to conform to the changes made by S 4605 of the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999, Public Law 106

– 113, to [ section s] 134 and 141 of title 35 ”); Teles AG , 845 F. Supp. 2d at 114 (describing the 2011 amendments as “the true ‘housekeeping’ measures,” because “[t]hey clarify any ambiguity

8 The parties appear to agree that the 2011 amendments were not retroactive and do not govern court review of the reexamination proceeding at issue. The Court reaches the same conclusion. Congress passed the AIA on September 16, 2011, several months after PI had requested and been denied a rehearing by the BPAI. Accordingly, the Court will consider the 2011 amendme nts and their effective dates only insofar as they shed light on Congress’s view of the state of the law immediately prior to the enactment of the AIA.19 left by the 1999 amendments, and confirm for the Court that Congress intended the 1999 amendments to remove this Court's jur isdiction over patent owners' ex parte reexamination claims”). T o conclude that Congress waited until 2011 to remove district court review in ex parte reexaminations would make meaningless the revisions to section s 134, 141, and 145 that Congress enacted in 1999.
F. Transfer to the Federal Circuit 28 U.S.C. § 1631 provides that “[w] henever a civil action is filed in a court

... including a petition for review of administrative action

... and that court finds that there is a want of jurisdiction, the court shall, if it is in the interest of justice, transfer such action or appeal to any other such court in which the action or appeal could have been brought at the time it was filed or noticed, and the action or appeal shall proceed as if it had been filed in or notice d for the court to which it is transferred on the date upon which it was actually filed in or noticed for the court from which it is transferred. ” Power Integrations agrees that transfer is the appropriate action if this Court grants the USPTO’s motion to dismiss. See Plaintiff’s Opposition to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. #18) at 16, n. 10. The parties have given the Court no reason to believe that Power Integrations acted in bad faith in bringing suit in this Court, and the Court acknowledges that the only case to squarely address this issue, Teles AG , was decided after the initiation of t his action. For these reasons, the Court will transfer the case to the Federal Circuit, which can, in turn make its own determination as to the merits

. See Teles AG , 846 F. Supp. 2d at 119; Sigram Sch indler , 675 F. Supp. 2d at 639

. An Order consistent with the Memorandum Opinion will issue separately. November 18, 201320 BARBARA J. ROTHSTEIN UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE