Court Denies Tribe’s Claim for Immunity From Inter Partes Review; SIIA Applauds

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Friday rejected the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe’s request for tribal sovereign immunity from inter partes review. That got praise from the Software & Information Industry Association. In Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Allergan tried to block the Patent and Trademark Office from re-examining a patent, which a court had invalidated, by selling it to a tribe claiming immunity. SIIA Vice President-Intellectual Property Christopher Mohr called Friday’s order (in Pacer) a win for innovation: “When Congress passed the America Invents Act, it recognized that inter partes proceedings are critical to ensuring patent quality. The Federal Circuit's decision not only ensures the soundness of that system, it also promotes fundamental fairness because when it comes to IPR, every patent owner has to play by the same set of rules.”