ON JUNE 14, 2019 THE US COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT HELD THAT SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY DOES NOT APPLY TO STATE AGENCIES NOR INDIAN TRIBES IN ORDER TO PROTECT THEIR PATENTS FROM CHALLENGE

On June 14th, in Regents of the University of Minnesota v. LSI Corporation, the Federal Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals reached the same conclusion as was given in a similar case back in 2018 that Native American tribes do not get Sovereign Immunity that would protect their patents from challenge in inter partes review before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).

John Richards summarizes this ruling and other precedents in his article: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has Held that Neither State Agencies nor Indian Tribes Enjoy Sovereign Immunity, Which Would Protect Their Patents from Challenge in the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office which is now available in the Education Center.