The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear Alphabet's Google challenge to a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) policy that limits reviews of older patents. The decision leaves in place a lower court ruling upholding the agency's controversial “settled expectations” policy. Under the policy, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board is less likely to review the validity of patents that have been in force for several years.
Google argued that the policy creates a time limit on patent challenges that Congress never intended and shields weak patents from scrutiny, potentially stifling innovation.
The case stemmed from the patent office's rejection of Google's petition to review a patent held by software company VirtaMove, which had accused Google of infringement. The Supreme Court's decision leaves Google and other tech companies with fewer opportunities to use the administrative process to challenge patents they are accused of infringing.