Polaris Innovations Limited v. Kingston Technology Co. Inc.

Case: 18-1768 Document: 106 Page: 1 Filed: 01/31/2020 NOTE: This disposition is nonprecedential. United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ______________________ POLARIS INNOVATIONS LIMITED, Appellant v. KINGSTON TECHNOLOGY COMPANY, INC., Appellee UNITED STATES, Intervenor ______________________ 2018-1768 ______________________ Appeal from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Patent Trial and Appeal Board in No. IPR2016- 01621. ______________________ Decided: January 31, 2020 ______________________ MATTHEW D. POWERS, Tensegrity Law Group LLP, Redwood Shores, CA, argued for appellant. Also repre- sented by JENNIFER ROBINSON; AZRA HADZIMEHMEDOVIC, AARON MATTHEW NATHAN, SAMANTHA A. JAMESON, McLean, VA; NATHAN NOBU LOWENSTEIN, KENNETH J. WEATHERWAX, Lowenstein & Weatherwax LLP, Los Ange- les, CA. Case: 18-1768 Document: 106 Page: 2 Filed: 01/31/2020 2 POLARIS INNOVATIONS LIMITED v. KINGSTON TECHNOLOGY CO. INC. MICHAEL JOHN BALLANCO, Fish & Richardson PC, Washington, DC, argued for appellee. Also represented by DAVID M. HOFFMAN, Austin, TX. MELISSA N. PATTERSON, Appellate Staff, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, Washington, DC, ar- gued for intervenor. Also represented by COURTNEY DIXON, DENNIS FAN, SCOTT R. MCINTOSH, JOSEPH H. HUNT; THOMAS W. KRAUSE, JOSEPH MATAL, FARHEENA YASMEEN RASHEED, Office of the Solicitor, United States Patent and Trademark Office, Alexandria, VA. ______________________ Before REYNA, WALLACH, and HUGHES, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM. In its opening brief, Polaris Innovations Limited ar- gues that the final written decision at issue in this appeal exceeds the scope of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s authority and violates the Constitution’s Appointments Clause. See Appellant’s Br. 52 (citing U.S. Const. art. II, § 2, cl. 2). This court recently decided this issue in Arthrex, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew, Inc., 941 F.3d 1320 (Fed. Cir. 2019). Accordingly, the Board’s decision in No. IPR2016- 01621 is vacated, and the case is remanded to the Board for proceedings consistent with this court’s decision in Arthrex. VACATED AND REMANDED COSTS No costs.