Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/19-1434_ancf.pdf
Page Number: 9.0

Cite as:  594 U. S. ____ (2021) 

5 

Opinion of the Court 

Circuit.  35 U. S. C. §319.  At this stage, the Director can
intervene before the court to defend or disavow the Board’s 
decision.  §143.  The  Federal  Circuit  reviews  the  PTAB’s 
application  of  patentability  standards  de novo  and  its  un-
derlying  factual  determinations  for  substantial  evidence. 
See  Oil  States  Energy  Services,  LLC  v.  Greene’s  Energy 
Group, LLC, 584 U. S. ___, ___ (2018) (slip op., at 4).  Upon
expiration of the time to appeal or termination of any ap-
peal, “the Director shall issue and publish a certificate can-
celing any claim of the patent finally determined to be un-
patentable, confirming any claim of the patent determined
to be patentable, and incorporating in the patent by opera-
tion of the certificate any new or amended claim determined 
to be patentable.”  §318(b). 

B 

Arthrex, Inc. develops medical devices and procedures for 
orthopedic surgery.  In 2015, it secured a patent on a surgi-
cal device for reattaching soft tissue to bone without tying
a knot, U. S. Patent  No. 9,179,907 (’907 patent).  Arthrex 
soon  claimed  that  Smith  &  Nephew,  Inc.  and  ArthroCare 
Corp. (collectively, Smith & Nephew) had infringed the ’907
patent,  and  the  dispute  eventually  made  its  way  to  inter 
partes review in the PTO.  Three  APJs formed the PTAB 
panel  that  conducted  the  proceeding  and  ultimately  con-
cluded that a prior patent application “anticipated” the in-
vention claimed by the ’907 patent, so that Arthrex’s patent
was  invalid.  See  App.  to  Pet.  for  Cert.  in  No.  19–1434, 
p. 128a.

On appeal to the Federal Circuit, Arthrex raised for the 
first  time  an  argument  premised  on  the  Appointments
Clause of the Constitution.  That Clause specifies how the
President may appoint officers who assist him in carrying 
out  his  responsibilities.    Principal  officers  must  be  ap-
pointed by the President with the advice and consent of the
Senate,  while  inferior  officers  may  be  appointed  by  the