The Patent Office is to have a Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences. The Board of Patent Appeals is made up of the Director, the Deputy Director, the Commissioner for Patents, the Commissioner for Trademarks and the administrative patent judges. The judges must have a significant amount of legal knowledge relevant to the function of the Patent Office. Board judges are appointed by the Secretary of Commerce with input from the Patent Office Director.
Board Duties
The Board of Patent Appeals is responsible for reviewing all written appeals sent in from patent applicants and review adverse decisions made by patent examiners. The Board is to determine patent ability.
Authority of the Secretary of Commerce
The Secretary of Commerce has the ability to give their opinion to the Director regarding the qualifications of a Board of Patent Appeals judge appointed by the Director.
Challenging an Appointment
If a judge was acting as a Patent Office officer before they were appointed a judge, that is a acceptable challenge that may be accepted to challenge whether or not that person should be a Board judge.
