A highly-contested policy enacted six years ago by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that enabled them to recoup attorney's fees from challenges irrespective of outcome was unanimously overturned by the Supreme Court on December 11th, ending what was a clear conflict of the "American Rule" which requires U.S. litigants to pay for their own lawyers.
In the decision, Justice Sotomayor alluded to the USPTO's sudden change of course after more than 170 years as a "radical departure" from precedent.
Dyan Finguerra-DuCharme, speaking with Law360's Bill Donahue, lauded the SCOTUS decision as a righting of the ship and a preferred outcome for the U.S. legal justice system.
She noted, "It’s always great when common sense prevails, unanimously. We can now sleep well knowing that the American Rule remains firmly intact.”
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