Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Chestek PLLC v. Kathi Vidal, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director, United States Patent and Trademark Office
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 2022-1843 · judgment February 13, 2024
Before the decision, about 4.3× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for counsel who has won certiorari before, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a Federal Circuit decision below.
Question presented
The Patent and Trademark Office’s organic statute authorizes the agency to “establish regulations” that “govern the conduct of proceedings in the Office.” 35 U.S.C. § 2(b)(2). That authority is limited to issuance of “procedural” rules. Cooper Techs. Co. v. Dudas, 536 F.3d 1330, 1335 (Fed. Cir. 2008). In 1999, Congress amended the provision to specify that regulations “shall be made in accordance with section 553 of title 5,” which generally prescribes notice-and-comment procedures for rulemaking. Pub. L. No. 106-113, App. I, 113 Stat. 1501A-552, 572–73 (1999). In the decision below, the Federal Circuit held that the PTO need not provide notice and comment for procedural rules promulgated under section 2(b)(2), thereby nullifying the statutory command that such regulations “shall be made in accordance with section 553.” Accordingly, the question presented is: Whether the PTO is exempt from notice-and-comment requirements when exercising its rulemaking power under 35 U.S.C. § 2(b)(2).
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Andrew Michael Grossman
Baker & Hostetler LLP
For respondent
Elizabeth B. Prelogar
Solicitor General
Case
Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference
Amicus briefs
5 cert-stage
Proceedings
- Oct 07 2024Petition DENIED.
- Aug 29 2024Reply of petitioner Chestek PLLC filed. (Distributed)
- Aug 28 2024DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/30/2024.
- Aug 14 2024Brief of respondent Kathi Vidal, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director, United States Patent and Trademark Office in opposition filed.
- Jun 18 2024Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including August 14, 2024.
- Jun 17 2024Motion to extend the time to file a response from July 15, 2024 to August 14, 2024, submitted to The Clerk.
- Jun 14 2024Brief amicus curiae of The Bar of Association for the District of Columbia filed.
- Jun 14 2024Brief amici curiae of Cato Institute and Ethics and Public Policy Center filed.
- Jun 14 2024Brief amicus curiae of IEEE-USA filed.
- Jun 13 2024Brief amicus curiae of New Civil Liberties Alliance filed.
- Jun 13 2024Brief amici curiae of International Game Developers Association and CodeMiko Project, LLC filed.
- May 28 2024Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including July 15, 2024.
- May 23 2024Motion to extend the time to file a response from June 14, 2024 to July 15, 2024, submitted to The Clerk.
- May 13 2024Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due June 14, 2024)