Apple Backers Say Startups Need High Court Patent Standing Fix

Constraints on administrative patent challenges imposed by the Federal Circuit harm startups and small businesses, three advocacy groups told the U.S. Supreme Court in their support of a petition filed by Apple Inc.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held in April that a settlement with patent owner Qualcomm Inc. barred Apple from appealing Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions upholding two patents. Without parallel litigation, Apple can’t show a non-speculative injury it will face if the patents remain valid, the court said.

Engine Advocacy, the Public Interest Patent Law Institute, and ACT | The App Association …