Mealey's (December 11, 2020, 9:24 AM EST) -- WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. government and a portfolio medical technology company each filed an opening merits brief on Nov. 25 in a combined U.S. Supreme Court appeal over the appointment of administrative patent judges (APJs) in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (PTO’s) Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), with each arguing that the judges constitute inferior officers under the appointments clause of the U.S. Constitution and, as such, that underlying APJ rulings were made by properly appointed judges and do not merit reversal (United States v. Arthrex Inc., et al., No. 19-1434; Smith & Nephew Inc., et al. v. Arthrex Inc., et al., No. 19-1452; Arthrex Inc., et al. v. Smith & Nephew Inc., et al., No. 19-1458, U.S. Sup.)....