Review of old patents
Kahoot! AS v. Interstellar
In brief
- Where it stands
- Petition Pending
Awaiting an order on the petition
- What it’s about
- Kahoot! argues that the Patent and Trademark Office should not be able to refuse a patent challenge because the patent has been in force for six years, and asks whether courts can review such refusals.
- What's at stake
- Kahoot!' s effort to challenge the PTO's refusal remains unresolved; the Supreme Court has not agreed to review it.
Summary: written with AI from the case record.
What it's about
Its petition is pending; the Supreme Court has not agreed to hear it.
Kahoot! says the PTO should not have refused its patent challenge because the patent had been in force for six years.
The dispute concerns access to the PTO's process for reviewing a patent's validity and whether a patent's age can be a reason to refuse that review.
Question presented
1. Whether the PTO lacks statutory authority to deny inter partes review institution based on “settled expectations” premised on a patent’s age where Congress prescribed express timing limits for inter partes review based on a patent’s minimum age (which is tied to the expiration of the statutory period for seeking post-grant review, a separate type of patent validity challenge) but imposed no maximum patent age bar. 2. Whether 35 U.S.C. § 314(d) bars judicial review, even by way of mandamus, of whether the PTO exceeded its statutory authority when denying inter partes review institution on grounds that are contrary to the statute.
What happens next
The Court must decide whether to hear the case. The petition was distributed for the Dec. 4, 2026 conference, but that is not a grant of review or a guaranteed date for an order.
Why it matters
Kahoot!'s effort to challenge the PTO's refusal remains unresolved; the Supreme Court has not agreed to review it.
Documents
Docket activity
New analysis added
AI analysis generated: Case Briefing
Case data updated: summary, question_presented, generation_metadata
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Case data updated: documents, description, document_url, proceeding_type
Case data updated: documents, description, document_url, proceeding_type
Case data updated: documents, description, document_url, proceeding_type
Case data updated: documents, description, document_url, proceeding_type
Case data updated: documents, description, document_url, proceeding_type
Case data updated: documents, description, document_url, proceeding_type
Case data updated: documents, description, document_url, proceeding_type
More questions
- What two questions does Kahoot!'s petition raise?
- Kahoot! asks whether Congress's timing rules leave the PTO without a maximum patent-age limit, and whether courts can review a refusal the office allegedly lacked authority to make despite a law limiting review of PTO decisions.
Sources
Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.