The Alliance of U.S. Startups and Inventors for Jobs (USIJ) has filed an amicus brief in In re: SAP America, Inc. before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, urging the court to reject SAP’s petition for mandamus and uphold the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) discretion to deny institution of Inter Partes Review (IPR) proceedings.
The brief warns that weakening the USPTO’s discretion would open the door to abusive patent challenges by large corporations, putting small inventors and startups at a systemic disadvantage. USIJ argues that Congress explicitly granted the USPTO Director broad authority to prevent such abuse and protect the integrity of the patent system.
“Fourteen years of abuse of inventors has caused a significant decline in the number of startups willing to challenge large incumbents as emerging competitors, with devastating impact on competition and the kinds of innovation that only small companies and individuals can provide to our nation.”