Washington — The Computer & Communications Industry Association co-filed an amicus brief at the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) on Friday evening on the applicability of sovereign immunity to IPRs.
This case will determine whether sovereign immunity can be used to shield a patent from inter partes review (IPR). By allowing the PTO to review its earlier decision to grant a patent, IPR provides a crucial tool to fight the kind of poor quality patents often used in abusive litigation. CCIA and others believe sovereign immunity does not apply to this kind of review.
For additional information, please see CCIA Patent Counsel Josh Landau’s blog posts on the topic of sovereign immunity and IPR.