Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/19-1434_ancf.pdf
Page Number: 50.0

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

3 

THOMAS, J., dissenting 

panel of three administrative judges ultimately agreed with
Smith & Nephew that the disputed claims were unpatent-
able.  The Director did not convene a panel to rehear that 
decision.  Nor is there any suggestion that Arthrex sought
rehearing from the Board or from the Director.  Instead, Ar-
threx  appealed  the  Board’s  decision  to  the  United  States 
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. 

On appeal, Arthrex argued that the Federal Circuit must
vacate the Board’s decision.  According to Arthrex, admin-
istrative  patent  judges  are  constitutionally  defective  be-
cause  they  are  principal  officers  who  were  neither  ap-
pointed by the President nor confirmed by the Senate.  The 
Federal Circuit agreed in part.  The court held that admin-
istrative  patent  judges  are  principal  officers.  941  F. 3d 
1320,  1335  (2019).    But  the  court  professed  to  transform 
these  principal  officers  into  inferior  ones  by  withdrawing
statutory removal restrictions.  Id., at 1338. 

The Court now partially agrees with the Federal Circuit.
Although it cannot quite bring itself to say so expressly, it 
too appears to hold that administrative patent judges are 
principal officers under the current statutory scheme.  See 
ante, at 10–14.  But it concludes that the better way to ju-
dicially convert these principal officers to inferior ones is to
allow  the  Director  to  review  Board  decisions  unilaterally. 
Ante, at 21 (plurality opinion); ante, at 7 (BREYER, J., con-
curring in part and dissenting in part).

That both the Federal Circuit and this Court would take 
so much care to ensure that administrative patent judges, 
appointed as inferior officers, would remain inferior officers 
at the end of the day suggests that perhaps they were infe-
rior officers to begin with.  Instead of rewriting the Direc-
tor’s statutory powers, I would simply leave intact the pa-
tent scheme Congress has created. 

The Constitution creates a default process to appoint all 

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