Source: https://www.mintz.com/insights-center/viewpoints/2231/2018-01-wi-fi-one-v-broadcom-en-banc-federal-circuit-held-time-bar
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 05:03:00+00:00

Document:
In its first en banc decision of 2018, the Federal Circuit held that “judicial review is available for a patent owner to challenge the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s determination that the petitioner satisfied the timeliness requirement of 35 U.S.C. § 315(b) governing the filing of petitions for inter partes review.” Wi-Fi One v. Broadcom (Fed. Cir. 2018) (en banc). The 9-4 decision overruled a contrary conclusion in Achates Reference Publishing v. Apple.
The Court held that because the statutory language and the statutory scheme do not clearly and convincingly indicate Congress’s intent to bar judicial review of § 315(b) time-bar determinations, the strong presumption favoring judicial review of administrative actions stands. The Federal Circuit noted that it did not decide whether all disputes arising from § 311-14 are final and non-appealable and its decision was limited only to judicial review of § 315(b).
Judge O’Malley, in her concurring opinion, differentiated the petition to institute from the act of institution. Unlike the issue in Cuozzo, which falls in the latter category, the time-bar determinations, falling in the former category, do not require any technical expertise or relate to the agency’s core statutory function of determining whether claims are or are not patentable, and thus should be appealable. Judge Hughes, joined by Judges Lourie, Bryson, and Dyk dissented, stating that Cuozzo confirms that § 314(d) is not limited to the merits of the petition but also bars judicial review of closely related issue such as the petition’s timeliness.
This decision indicates that the Federal Circuit is open to other appeals on IPR proceedings, especially those concerning the Board’s threshold determinations when instituting review. However, it remains to be seen how the Federal Circuit will respond to future appeals.
Catherine Cheng Xu is a Mintz Associate with an electrical engineering background and patent litigation experience. Catherine was a Summer Associate at Mintz, and also interned in the Shanghai, China, office of another US law firm.

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