The Futility in Appealing PTAB Institution Decisions

Last month, in Federal Express Corp. v. Qualcomm Inc. , Appeal No. 2024‑1236 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 29, 2026), the Federal Circuit again addressed the reach of the statutory bar on its review of Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions to institute inter partes reviews. The case arose from Qualcomm&rsquo;s IPR petition challenging a FedEx patent that FedEx was already asserting against a third party in…