On August 5, a series of Big Tech companies including Apple and Google filed an appellate brief  at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) continuing their challenge to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) NHK-Fintiv rule for discretionary denials of inter partes review (IPR) proceedings at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). The brief argues that NHK-Fintiv, developed through PTAB precedential decision-making, is a substantive rule requiring notice-and-comment rulemaking because it affects private interests and is binding on administrative patent judges (APJs) at the PTAB.

Full Article Available Here