On April 24, 2018, the Supreme Court held that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) must address all challenged claims of an instituted Petition in a final written decision. SAS Inst. Inc. v. Iancu, Dir. U.S. Pat. & Trademark Off., No. 16-969, slip op. (U.S. Apr. 24, 2018). By way of background, in its Petition for inter partes review (IPR), SAS sought review of all the claims of ComplementSoft’s software patent. During the IPR proceedings, the PTAB instituted review on some of the claims, relying on a Patent Office regulation that allowed for “partial institution.” The PTAB held seven of those claims unpatentable and confirmed the patentability of one claim. SAS argued to the Federal Circuit on appeal that the patent statute required the PTAB to address all challenged claims in its final written decision. The Federal Circuit rejected that argument and the Supreme Court granted certiorari. The Supreme Court disagreed with the Federal Circuit and held that all challenged claims must be addressed in an instituted IPR’s final written decision. Id. Click here to read the full post.