Patent Trial and Appeal Board
The decisions of the CAFC may also be reviewed on a discretionary basis by the United States Supreme Court as was firmly established in 1996 in Brenner v. Manson.The United States Congress, however, can change the patent laws, and thus override a precedential decision of the Supreme Court, but only for future cases and not retrospectively.Starting in 2014, parties challenged the constitutionality of the PTAB to review and cancel patent claims under the Seventh Amendment and separation of powers doctrines.They rectified the situation by severing the portion of the statute that restricted removal of the members of the Board, thus rendering them Inferior Officers of the United States.[13] Upon appeal, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision on June 21, 2021, that affirmed that APJs were considered principal officers with "unreviewable authority", and thus had been appointed unconstitutionally.