
Supreme Court Upholds Patent Office Power to Invalidate Bad Patents - casca
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/04/supreme-court-upholds-patent-office-power-invalidate-bad-patents
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craftyguy
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16913013](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16913013)

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jchw
I am amused at the contrast between different headlines for this story.

Bloomberg: "Patent ‘Death Squad’ System Upheld by U.S. Supreme Court"

EFF: "Supreme Court Upholds Patent Office Power to Invalidate Bad Patents"

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RandomInteger4
Wait, what? Why would anyone challenge them on having that power? That's like
someone challenging Congress's ability to change or undo a law. Was their
primary argument in this case "NO TAKESIES BACKSIES!"?

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rayiner
There is a lot of Supreme Court precedent, going back to the 1800s, calling
patents a "property right." Generally, administrative agencies (which is what
the USPTO is) cannot take away property rights; only Article III courts can do
so.

If the Social Security Administration (an executive agency) gives you $1,000
per month, it can probably decide to stop that monthly payment. But to get the
money back, it probably has to sue you in an Article III court.

