The United Services Automobile Association (USAA) has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court, urging justices to intervene in a case where its $218 million patent infringement victory is threatened by inconsistent rulings from government agencies.
USAA challenges the Federal Circuit’s decision permitting the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) to invalidate patents central to the $218 million verdict against PNC Bank. According to USAA’s petition filed on August 5, the PTAB invalidated claims in PNC’s inter partes reviews despite previously upholding the same claims when challenged by Wells Fargo on “materially identical grounds,” without providing an explanation for the contradictory outcomes.
“The Federal Circuit’s decision wrongly signals that agencies under its jurisdiction need not justify inconsistent rulings, even when facing the same issues on substantially similar records,” the petition states. USAA argues that this lack of accountability undermines the principle that like cases should be treated alike.
The petition calls on the Supreme Court justices to determine whether issuing conflicting rulings without justification—simply because different parties are involved—is arbitrary and capricious. USAA highlights that the D.C. Circuit has adopted a more consistent approach, and the split between the two circuits creates significant legal uncertainty given their heavy caseloads involving government agencies.
USAA’s original $218.45 million jury verdict was awarded in 2022 after proving PNC willfully infringed four patents related to mobile check deposit technology. However, that verdict was reversed by the Federal Circuit in June, which ruled that the patents covered unpatentable abstract ideas. This reversal followed similar rulings involving Wells Fargo, which settled with USAA in 2021 after previously being ordered to pay more than $300 million for willful infringement.
USAA maintains that although PNC and Wells Fargo presented different prior art, the underlying teachings were the same, and the PTAB’s refusal to apply consistent reasoning threatens the integrity of patent protections.
The patents at issue are U.S. Patent Nos. 8,977,571 and 8,699,779. PNC’s response to the Supreme Court petition is due September 8.
USAA is represented by Goodwin Procter LLP and Irell & Manella LLP, while PNC is represented by WilmerHale.
