Court Revives Google, Apple Challenge to U.S. Patent-Review Rule

Apple Inc, Google LLC, Cisco Systems Inc and others can sue the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to challenge a rule that reduced the number of patent-validity proceedings at a USPTO tribunal, a US appeals court said Monday.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a California federal court’s decision to dismiss the companies’ lawsuit and said the agency may have failed to go through a required public notice-and-comment rulemaking process.

The PTO declined to comment on the ruling.

Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said the company appreciates the decision and looks forward to making its case at the lower court. A Cisco spokesperson said the ruling reinforces that the PTO’s patent review proceedings are “an important vehicle to preserve a balanced patent system, protect innovation, and assure patent quality in the United States”.

Read the source article at yahoo.com