In October of 2019, a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in Arthrex v Smith & Nephew that administrative patent judges (APJs) under the America Invents Act (AIA) were appointed unconstitutionally. The panel struck down the protections for the APJs and remanded the decision back to the Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB) at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a new proceeding before a different panel of APJs. With this potential upheaval hanging over patent owners and petitioners alike, all stakeholders need to consider what actions to take to best protect their interests. Click on the link below to read the full article and learn more as Jonathan Link considers what's next for patents after the decision that APJs were improperly appointed.
Republished with permission.