DOJ's Stance On Antitrust And Patent Law Reflects Balance

Law360, Nicholas Cheolas & Corey Weinstein, May 4, 2026

Over the past year, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division has delivered consistent messaging about the relationship between antitrust law and intellectual property rights: Strong patent rights and competition policy are complementary, not in conflict.

Federal Circuit In March: IPR And The Limits Of Retroactivity

Law360, Sean Murray & Jeremiah Helm, April 30, 2026

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit addressed the limits of retroactivity in its recent decision, Implicit LLC v. Sonos Inc. There the court considered Implicit's attempt to erase a loss in inter partes review proceedings by retroactively correcting the two invalidated patents. The Federal Circuit ruled that, even though the retroactive correction theoretically should have changed the outcome of the IPRs, thereby saving Implicit's patents from invalidation, Implicit had forfeited the right to rely on the correction.

Google Takes USPTO 'Settled Expectations' Fight To High Court

Law360, Ryan Davis, April 27, 2026

Google asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's policy of using the age of patents as a reason to refuse to review them, saying the "unprecedented and unsupported action" exceeds the office's authority. Google told the Supreme Court that the USPTO had no statutory authority to enact a policy that it generally will not institute America Invents Act review of patents that are more than six years old, which the company said amounts to "conjuring from whole cloth a limitations period that Congress deliberately withheld."

New Patent Owner Filings Expected To Drive Down Reexams

Law360, Ryan Davis, April 8, 2026

A new U.S. Patent and Trademark Office procedure allowing patent owners to respond to ex parte reexamination requests has the potential to shake up the process and lead to fewer reexams being instituted since the office can now hear from both sides, attorneys say.

Plaid Beats Fintech Patent Suit With Alice Finding

Law360, Elliot Weld, April 3, 2026

A Utah federal judge has dismissed a patent infringement suit against financial services firm Plaid Inc.. The ruling was invalid under the U.S. Supreme Court's Alice test, which assesses whether a patent covers an abstract concept that renders it ineligible.

Apple Verdict May Inform Jury Instruction In Patent Suits

Law360, Joshua Reisberg, April 2, 2026

On Feb. 12, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas cleared Apple Inc. of patent infringement in an action brought by Optis Wireless Technology LLC. One consequential feature of the Federal Circuit's opinion has received little attention: how juries must be instructed on patent eligibility under Title 35 of the U.S. Code, Section 101. Although the jury ultimately did not need to resolve eligibility, how the district court modified its Step 2 instruction — prompted by the Federal Circuit — warrants scrutiny.

USPTO Lets Patent Owners Argue Against Reexam Requests

Law360, Ryan Davis, April 2, 2026

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will now allow patent owners to file a brief explaining why an ex parte reexamination of their patent should not be instituted, a move the office said was spurred by "the recent increased volume" of such proceedings. USPTO Director John Squires said beginning with requests for reexamination filed on or after April 5, patent owners may for the first time file a 30-page paper, which does not require paying a fee, that states their case before the office's Central Reexamination Unit makes a decision on whether to institute the proceeding.

X Gets Backup In Fed. Circ. Fight Against $175M Patent Loss

Law360, Adam Lidgett, March 30, 2026

Patent quality advocacy group Askeladden LLC has backed X Corp.'s Federal Circuit challenge to a loss of more than $175 million that it saw in a patent infringement suit, saying the patented claims at issue should have been found invalid to begin with. In an amicus brief, Askeladden — a subsidiary of Clearing House Payments Co., which is run by the major banks — threw its support behind Elon Musk's X precursor, Twitter Inc., stating  the patents should be found invalid under the test established by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 2014 case Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International . That standard directs courts to ask whether the claims are directed to a patent-ineligible concept, like a law of nature, and says that if so, a court must then ask whether the claims have an inventive concept.

Still No Shenanigans: Fed. Circ. Keeps Review Bar High

Law360, Dani Kass, March 19, 2026

The Federal Circuit's rejection of all mandamus petitions asking it to rein in the way U.S. Patent and Trademark Office leadership is ​evaluating patent challenges cements the appeals court's near-impossible standard for reviewing institution decisions, attorneys say. The Federal Circuit is making it clear that there is no constitutional right to PTAB reviews and that the USPTO director has unlimited discretion on whether to undertake them.

USPTO Wants 900 New Patent Examiners By October

Law360, Dani Kass, March 18, 2026

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office plans to hire 900 patent examiners focusing on sciences and engineering by Oct. 1, 2026. The USPTO is requiring examiners to work from the Alexandria, Virginia, headquarters, rather than telework or be based in a regional office.