States Must Face IPR Challenges Similar to Tribes

In Regents of the Univ. of Minn. v. LSI Corporation, Fed. Cir., No. 18-01559, the Federal Circuit extended the inability to stand behind 11th Amendment Sovereign Immunity to patents owned by individual states, such that they can be cancelled via inter partes review (IPR). Now the University of Minnesota and all other states and universities holding patents must face IPR challenges to patents they own. Following up on its decision in Saint Regis, the Federal Circuit stated “the differences between state and tribal sovereign immunity do not warrant a different result than in Saint Regis. We therefore conclude that state sovereign immunity does not apply to IPR proceedings.” Slop Op. at 27-28.

This article appeared in the June 2019 issue of PTAB Strategies and Insights. To view our past issues, as well as other firm newsletters, please click here.