Viewed through that lens, the Respondents argue there is nothing unconstitutional about IPRs. Congress was expressly given the power to grant patents within the Constitution. Congress has delegated that power to a federal agency, namely, the USPTO. Any “right” to a patent therefore derives directly from a Federal Government action, and by that token, it is a public right. In other words, patents do not embody a natural right of the inventor to exclude others from using his or her invention. Rather, a patent only exists because Congress has expressly provided for it.
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