Appeal

Who do I appeal to?

• A third option to an application that has received a final rejection, more specifically, a claim that has been rejected twice, is to appeal the Examiner’s decision to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (the “Board” or “BPAI”).

What if I don’t like the Board’s decision?

• An adverse decision from the Board can be appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”).

What if I don’t like the Federal Court’s decision?

• If an adverse decision from the CAFC is received, the United States Supreme Court can be petitioned to hear an appeal. Whether the Supreme Court decides to hear your case, however, is within the sole discretion of the Supreme Court, and typically is not likely.
• In re Bilski is one such example of an appeal that has followed this path and had been granted cert by the Supreme Court.  In this case, the Supreme Court addressed the issue of the scope of what is actually patentable. Such accepted appeals are rare.