Supreme Court’s Patent Judge Ruling May Bedevil Copyright Board

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that administrative patent judges were unconstitutionally appointed is casting a legal shadow over a U.S. Copyright Office tribunal established to handle small-dollar disputes.

The justices ruled in United States v. Arthrex that Patent Trial and Appeal Board judges should have been presidentially nominated and Senate-confirmed—or their rulings should have been reversible by someone who is. The ruling adds to previously existing arguments that the Copyright Claims Board, which the Copyright Office is still setting up, will be unconstitutional.

Arthrex gives defendants “more avenues of attack” under the U.S. Constitution’s appointments clause, Jonathan Band, a copyright ...