U.S. Supreme Court again called upon to examine “settled expectations” basis for USPTO discretionary denials

Context: Kahoot, a Norwegian online education platform, petitioned the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for inter partes review (IPR) of an Interstellar, Inc. patent. In July 2025 Coke Morgan Stewart, then Acting Director of the USPTO, discretionarily denied Kahoot’s petition, primarily on the basis of Interstellar’s “settled expectations” as to the patent’s validity. Kahoot’s subsequent petition for writ of mandamus was denied by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.