Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Patent Review Process
The Supreme Court has ruled against Cuozzo Speed Technologies Corp. in its challenge to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s procedures for canceling patents in a case involving a vehicle speedometer that tells drivers when they are speeding, reports Reuters.
The ruling is seen as a victory for technology companies like Apple and Google, which have used the procedures to invalidate patents they believed to be weak.
With the decision, the court validated a 2015 appeals court ruling upholding the USPTO’s invalidation of New Jersey-based Cuozzo’s speedometer patent. GPS device maker Garmin had challenged Cuozzo’s claims in that case, report .
The legal question was whether the federal agency’s procedures have made it too easy to successfully cancel patents. In an opinion by Justice Stephen Breyer, the court backed the process.
