The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has responded to the Supreme Court ruling in the so-called Arthrex case, which affects how the agency will handle inter partes reviews (IPR) decided by administrative patent judges (APJs). PTO said litigants to IPRs can request a review by the director of the agency only in limited circumstances, however, potentially limiting litigants to one administrative path following an unfavorable IPR outcome.