October 26, 2018
Today the U.S. Supreme Court granted a petition for a writ of certiorari in Return Mail, Inc. v. U.S. Postal Service. The Court will consider this question: Whether the government is a “person” who may petition to institute review proceedings under the AIA.
The case arose when the U.S. Postal Service initiated covered business method review proceedings against a patent held by Return Mail. Return Mail contends that the federal government, and by extension the postal service, may not initiate such proceedings “because the government is not a 'person' as that term is ordinarily used, and there is no evidence that Congress intended to depart from the default rule in the AIA.”
Fitch Even will report once the Court has issued its decision.
Fitch Even IP Alert®