Supreme Court Upholds US Patent-Invalidation Procedures.

Reuters (6/20, Hurley) reports the Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld the US Patent and Trademark Office’s invalidation of Cuozzo Speed Technology’s vehicle speedometer patent. The New Jersey company had appealed a lower court’s decision in favor of GPS device maker Garmin, which sued Cuozzo in 2012. The focus of Cuozzo’s appeal was whether the patent and trademark agency’s procedures made it too easy for patents to be voided. According to Bloomberg Politics (6/20), the agency’s review procedures have in the past given tech companies including Google and Apple nonlitigious means to invalidate disputed patents. Justice Stephen Breyer, who wrote the court’s opinion Monday, explained that the public is better protected when a patent claim is construed “according to its broadest reasonable construction.” Additionally, the justices ruled 6-2 to affirm that the agency’s patent-review process is equivalent to a court hearing.

The Wall Street Journal (6/20, Kendall, Subscription Publication) says the court’s primary ruling bolsters tech companies but is likely to harm the pharmaceutical industry, which relies on highly detailed, very specific patents. In the AP’s (6/20) estimation, the decision will strengthen companies’ legal ability to “fight so-called patent trolls,” who buy patents with the sole intention of forcing companies to pay royalties.