The Propriety and Cost of Discretionary Denial

In 2020, Apple and several other parties collectively sued the Patent Office in a U.S. district court in California. They alleged that guidance* the Director gave the Patent Trial and Appeal Board&mdash;on how, while parallel patent litigation was pending, to exercise the Director&rsquo;s discretion to deny inter partes review petitions&mdash;violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA),…