WASHINGTON (March 4, 2025) — The Council for Innovation Promotion (C4IP) applauds the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s rescission of a 2022 memorandum that limited certain discretionary denials of institution at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). By reversing this policy, the USPTO will reduce government waste, help prevent repetitive patent challenges, and thus help American innovators — particularly small businesses — protect their intellectual property.
Frank Cullen, executive director of C4IP, issued the following statement in support of the decision:
“Today’s decision strengthens America’s innovation ecosystem by ensuring that Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) post-grant proceedings are not duplicative of district court or ITC proceedings.
“This change will uniquely assist small businesses and inventors in protecting their ideas from large corporations, many of whom attempt to unfairly burden smaller patent holders through costly parallel litigation and unnecessary duplication.
“Inventors and startups rely on stable patent protections to bring new technologies and other ideas to market. Medium-sized businesses and large companies will also benefit. For too long, large corporations have used the PTAB to wage a two-front war on patent holders. The rollback of this memorandum will increase the clarity as to when the PTAB will not entertain duplicative challenges.
“Today’s rescission further demonstrates the need for legislative reform to PTAB through the PREVAIL Act, which would build on today’s executive action by statutorily eliminating duplicative proceedings. This legislation would provide much-needed finality on this issue, which is vital for a system meant to support long-term investment in innovation.
“C4IP looks forward to working with the USPTO and Congress to continue reforming the U.S. patent system to best serve inventors’ interests and promote economic growth.”
About the Council for Innovation Promotion: The Council for Innovation Promotion is a bipartisan coalition dedicated to promoting strong and effective intellectual property rights that drive innovation, boost economic competitiveness, and improve lives everywhere.