Supreme Court and Congress Face Pressure to Reshape PTAB Authority

Congress extended USPTO fee-setting authority through December 12, 2026, while the September 29 Senate hearing intensified scrutiny of PTAB discretionary denial, PREVAIL/PERA, AI deployment, backlog, advisory committees, and agency accountability. October Director Review, delegated-rehearing, and informative decisions involving Tesla and Terumo reinforce scrutiny of inconsistent claim constructions and forum manipulation; Squires may return merits-based institution decisions to PTAB panels while retaining discretionary-denial authority.