PTO Director’s Former Role In Case Didn’t Affect Due Process Rights, Panel Says

(August 13, 2024, 10:52 AM EDT) -- WASHINGTON, D.C. — The owner of three computer data patents was not deprived of its due process rights when the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) instituted inter partes review after opposing counsel in a dispute over the patents was nominated and appointed as director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) because the director properly recused herself from the case and the administrative law judges of the PTAB had no pecuniary interest in agreeing with the arguments she formerly presented before them, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming three final written decisions from the PTAB....