The Mandate Rule Has Limits: Federal Circuit Lets the PTAB Revisit Unresolved Issues

In a precedential decision, the Federal Circuit affirmed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Board or PTAB) determination following remand and clarified the scope of the mandate rule in proceedings before the Board. The court held that the mandate rule does not preserve every factual observation in an earlier Board decision merely because the Federal Circuit did not expressly disturb it.... By: Morgan Lewis