Mealey's (July 18, 2019, 1:31 PM EDT) -- WASHINGTON, D.C. — Because Section 145 of the Patent Act does not explicitly provide for an award of attorney fees to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) in an action challenging the denial of a patent application, a rejected applicant tells the U.S. Supreme Court in a July 15 respondent brief that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that the American Rule served to preclude such an award (Laura Peter v. NantKwest Inc., No. 18-801, U.S. Sup.)....