Gilbert P. Hyatt, Petitioner v. John A. Squires, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director, United States Patent and Trademark Office

Gilbert Hyatt is asking the Supreme Court to review whether the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office can use prosecution laches (a judge-made rule about unreasonable delay) to defeat his Section 145 case, a district court suit after a patent denial. Hyatt says Congress already set detailed timing rules for patent examination, so the agency should not add this extra barrier.

No oral argument is scheduled, and the Court has not yet decided whether to hear the case. Hyatt argues this delay doctrine is a limited "gap-filling doctrine" that cannot override Congress's patent timelines.

The answer could shape how the Patent Office handles long-running applications. For example, an inventor who met the statutory deadlines could still lose a patent if the agency may rely on this delay-based doctrine.

The petition asks whether the USPTO can use a delay-based fairness doctrine to defeat Hyatt's district court suit after a patent denial.

Patent applicants with long-running cases could lose patents even when they followed Congress's timing rules. The agency would keep a stronger tool to reject some delayed applications.

The justices first will decide whether to grant certiorari (hear the case). No oral argument is scheduled yet.