On April 23, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court held that “Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decisions regarding the time limit for filing inter partes reviews (IPRs) are not subject to judicial review.”
The case began in 2013 when the PTAB instituted an IPR filed by Thryv, Inc., which resulted in the PTAB invalidating 13 claims found in Click-to-Call Technologies’ patent related to anonymous telephone calling technology. The U.S Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) vacated the PTAB’s decision following Click-to-Call Technologies’ appeal on the basis that the IPR was filed outside the one-year limit imposed in 35 U.S.C. § 315(b), but the Supreme Court overturned the CAFC’s ruling due to the “final and nonappealable” language barring judicial review found in 35 U.S.C. § 314(d).
