Arthrex Ruling Applies To Ex Parte Appeals, Fed. Circ. Says

By Andrew Karpan (September 17, 2021, 8:24 PM EDT) — The Federal Circuit has confirmed that the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office can review a rejected patent application in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Arthrex ruling that Patent Trial and Appeal Board judges were unconstitutionally appointed.

A three-judge panel handed down the brief decision on Thursday. This allowed New York-based global payment platform Boloro Global Ltd. to ask the USPTO director to review the PTAB’s decisions in ex parte appeals, which upheld the rejection of the company’s applications for three patents covering a method of securing financial transactions by phone.

“This case is remanded for the limited…