Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/18-916_f2ah.pdf
Page Number: 25

6 

THRYV, INC. v. CLICK-TO-CALL TECHNOLOGIES, LP 

GORSUCH, J., dissenting 

That’s  the  strange  place  we  now  find  ourselves.  Thryv
managed  to  persuade  the  Court  to  grant  its  petition  for 
certiorari  to  consider  its  extraordinary  argument.  And 
today  the  Court  vindicates  its  last  and  most  remarkable 
maneuver. 

II 
A 
How  could  §314(d)  insulate  from  judicial  review  the 
agency’s—admittedly  mistaken—interpretation  of  an  en-
tirely  different  provision,  §315(b)?    The  answer  is  that  it 
doesn’t. 

To  see  why,  look  no  further  than  §314(d).    The  statute 
tells us that “[t]he determination by the Director whether
to institute an inter partes review under this section shall 
be final and nonappealable.”  So the only thing §314(d) in-
sulates from judicial review is “[t]he determination” made 
“by the Director” “under this section”—that is, a determina-
tion  discussed  within  §314.  Nothing  in  the  statute  insu-
lates  agency  interpretations  of  other  provisions  outside 
§314, including those involving §315(b). 
This  arrangement  makes  sense.

  Given  that  §314(d)
speaks of “[t]he” determination by the Director “under this
section,” it comes as no surprise that the section mentions
just one such “determination.”  It is found in §314(a), where
the Director “determines” whether the parties’ initial plead-
ings  suggest  “a  reasonable  likelihood”  the  petitioner  will 
prevail in defeating at least some aspect of the challenged 
patent.  And it is easy to see why Congress might make a 
preliminary merits assessment like that exempt from fur-
ther view:  If the Director institutes a meritless petition, the 
Board  can  summarily  affirm  the  patent’s  validity.    See 
§318(a); 37 CFR §§42.71–42.73.  In any event, the Board is
obligated to render a final—and judicially reviewable—de-
cision  within  a  year.  35  U. S. C.  §§141(c),  316(a)(11),