February 13, 2026
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office precedent allowing Patent Trial and Appeal Board petitions to be denied based on the timing of related litigation falls well within the director's discretionary authority, the Federal Circuit said Friday in rejecting an appeal from Apple, Cisco, Google and Intel.
January 05, 2026
Four of the world's largest technology companies struggled to convince a Federal Circuit panel on Monday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Fintiv precedent is illegal, with judges stressing the broad discretion given to the agency's leader, as well as a potential policy change that could render the discussion moot.
December 23, 2025
The Federal Circuit is set to hear several intellectual property cases in January, including one over a nine-figure patent judgment against cybersecurity company Gen Digital tied to a contempt finding against a major law firm that represented it, and another over the tech industry's long-running crusade against patent review denials based on related litigation.
March 20, 2025
Groups representing major industries have written to the White House expressing "grave concern" about the patent office's withdrawal of a guidance memo limiting when patent challenges can be denied, and large tech companies told a court the office's move bolsters their case against such denials.
October 22, 2024
A group that advocates for intellectual property lawyers and patent owners has urged the Federal Circuit to uphold Patent Trial and Appeal Board precedent allowing its judges the discretion to deny patent reviews based on how proposed reviews overlap with related litigation in other forums.
August 06, 2024
Apple and three other major technology companies have again asked the Federal Circuit to abolish a rule allowing the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to refuse to review patents based on related litigation in court, saying it is unlawful because it was implemented without formal rulemaking.