Federal Circuit: Limited Power to Hear Appeals on Motions to Stay

In Intellectual Ventures v. JPMorgan, the Federal Circuit held that the mere filing of a petition for covered business method (CBM) patent review or post-grant review (PGR) under the AIA did not give it the jurisdiction to hear an appeal of a decision on a motion to stay trial court proceedings. In this case, Intellectual Ventures filed an infringement action against JPMorgan, and JPMorgan responded by filing several petitions for CBM and immediately seeking a stay of litigation. The trial court denied the motion, and JPMorgan appealed this decision to the Federal Circuit. The Federal Circuit determined that, under the AIA, it only had jurisdiction over a decision on a motion to stay that is related to a petition that has actually been instituted.

This may grant an advantage to patentees in civil litigation. Because stays are more likely to be granted when litigation is at an early stage, if the patentee moves quickly enough in the litigation, they can make a stay much less likely to happen and potentially even conclude the litigation before the CBM review process is completed.