USIJ's Chris Israel Quoted in WIPR - The USPTO’s Fintiv shadow

At the start of the year, the court also dashed the hopes of both Apple and Mylan to secure a reversal of PTAB’s refusal to review patents owned by Optis Cellular Technology and Janssen Pharmaceutica, respectively.

Chris Israel, executive director of US Startups and Inventors for Jobs, welcomed the decisions as a boon for inventors and rights owners.

“The Supreme Court has indicated, for the second time this year, that the USPTO’s Fintiv rule is clearly within the statutory authority that Congress gave the office when enacting the America Invents Act (AIA) and is consistent with its intent,” he said.

IPRs, he argued, were intended to be an alternative to district court litigation to review a patent’s validity, not a duplicative tool for Big Tech companies to continuously attack valid patents held by their smaller competitors.

“Companies such as Intel are fighting the Fintiv rule because this is exactly how they exploit the system. Their efforts not only drive up litigation costs, but undermine investment in US innovation and weaken the patent system,” said Israel.