On October 15, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit refused General Electric’s (GE) request for the full court to reconsider its July decision, which held that GE cannot appeal a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decision. The ruling left in place the PTAB’s inter partes review (IPR) decision upholding Finnegan client United Technologies’ jet engine patent.
GE argued that United Technologies’ patent limits the types of engines GE can make and urged the Federal Circuit to overturn a special rule of standing that is unique to IPR appeals. The Federal Circuit agreed with the earlier PTAB decision, stating that the PTAB’s decision did not cause GE the sort of competitive harm that would give it standing to appeal.
