Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, et al. v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., et al.

This case involves the legal characterization of the inter partes review procedure for patents, created by the Leahy–Smith America Invents Act, Pub. L. No. 112-29, 125 Stat. 284 (2011). This Court has described inter partes review as a “procedure allow[ing] private parties to challenge previously issued patent claims in an adversarial process before the Patent Office that mimics civil litigation.” SAS Inst. Inc. v. Iancu, 138 S. Ct. 1348, 1352 (2018). In this case, the Federal Circuit held that a federally recognized Indian tribe owning a patent could not assert tribal sovereign immunity in an inter partes review proceeding because the proceeding is “more like an agency enforcement action than a civil suit brought by a private party.” Pet. App. 9a. The Question Presented is: Whether inter partes review before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board is the type of proceeding in which tribal sovereign immunity may be asserted.