Conservatives Urge Trump Admin to Voice Support for USPTO’s Proposed PTAB Rule

A group of conservative leaders on Wednesday sent a letter to the Director of the National Economic Council, Kevin Hassett, and Chief of Staff to President Trump, Susie Wiles, strongly supporting the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) issued in October, titled “Revision to Rules of Practice before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.”

The NPRM modifies the rules of practice for inter partes reviews (IPRs) before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), with the stated goal being “to focus inter partes review proceedings on patent claims that have not previously been challenged in litigation or where prior litigation was resolved at an early stage.” The deadline for comments was December 2 and the Office has received 11,442 total submissions.

USPTO Director John Squires extended the comment period by 15 days in November, in response to requests from stakeholders. The original deadline for comment was November 17, but that deadline was extended to December 2.

The proposed rule would expand upon USPTO Director John Squires’ emphasis on “born-strong” patents and quiet title. A press release issued on the NPRM in October said that, under current practice, “the Office is concerned that even extremely strong patents become unreliable when subject to serial or parallel challenges.”

The rules have been broadly welcomed by IP holders and practitioners, and broadly opposed by those who want to preserve the option to easily challenge patents.

The 22 conservative leaders who wrote to the Trump Administration yesterday said “the proposal would help restore fairness, efficiency, and predictability to patent adjudication.”

The letter specifically pointed to provisions that would require petitioners to stipulate that they will not pursue overlapping Section 102 and 103 invalidity arguments; that would limit institution of review where claims have already been upheld in multiple forums; and that would grant the USPTO discretion to consider “the effects of its regulations on ‘the economy [and] the integrity of the patent system.’”

The conservative leaders noted that USPTO Director John Squires recently underscored the importance of strong patent protection to national security in his written statement before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, in which he explained that emerging technologies like AI and biotechnology present new challenges. “Each of these fields is at once a commercial opportunity and a national security imperative,” Squires wrote. “Without robust patent protection, private sector innovators will be reluctant to make the sustained investments necessary to compete at the global level.”

“The proposed rule will help secure the unique intellectual property foundation of U.S. leadership in critical technologies from AI to quantum computing,” said the conservatives’ letter, before urging Hassett and Wiles to signal their support.

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