In Cuozzo Speed Technologies, LLC v. Lee, the US Supreme Court held that a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) on whether to institute an inter partes review (IPR) is final and non-appealable in nearly all cases. The Court also held that PTAB's use of the broadest reasonable interpretation ("BRI") of a claim consistent with the specification is proper in an IPR and within the USPTO rulemaking authority given the statute leaves a gap on the claim construction standard. Given nearly all patent owners cannot enter successfully amend claims in IPR, it's shaky to say IPR is closer to prosecution than litigation, but this is the law today. Further, this Supreme Court decision maintains the status quo where US patents have become more open to invalidity attacks since passage of the America Invents Act.
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