On Monday, April 25, 2016, the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) will hear oral arguments in Cuozzo Speed Technologies v. Lee. One of the most interesting issues in question involves the proper claim construction the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) should apply when analyzing the validity of patents in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings. The USPTO will determine whether the Federal Circuit erred in concluding that, in IPR proceedings, the PTAB may construe claims in an issued patent according to their “broadest reasonable interpretation” (BRI) rather than under a plain and ordinary meaning approach, which is applied by judicial courts when evaluating patent claim scope. The Court will also consider whether the the Director’s decision to institute an IPR in the first place is reviewable. Cuozzo Speed Technologies v. Lee represents the first opportunity by the USPTO to weigh in on the various administrative trial procedures put into effect by the America Invents Act (AIA) of September 16, 2012.
