John A. Squires, Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), has issued a final decision on seven Inter Partes Review (IPR) requests filed against TikTok: as TikTok failed to demonstrate that no foreign government acted as a Real Party of Interest (RPI) at the time of filing, it lacked standing to initiate the IPR proceedings. All IPR proceedings previously accepted by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) have been dismissed, and the patent infringement litigation before the US District Court for the Western District of Texas has consequently resumed.

This case originated from a lawsuit filed by Cellspin Soft in October 2023 in the Western District of Texas against TikTok for infringing seven of its patents. TikTok subsequently filed IPR petitions with the PTAB, seeking to have the patents declared invalid. Cellspin filed a motion to terminate the IPR, citing two grounds: firstly, that TikTok is controlled by a foreign government, and pursuant to the US Supreme Court’s Return Mail precedent, foreign governments lack the authority to initiate IPR proceedings; and secondly, that TikTok had failed to disclose all actual interested parties and beneficial owners as required.

On 2 June 2025, the PTAB dismissed Cellspin’s motion to terminate the proceedings. The PTAB held that the Return Mail precedent applies only to US federal agencies, not to foreign governments; furthermore, even if a foreign government were listed as a beneficial owner, this would not give rise to a statute of limitations bar or estoppel.

However, just three days later, on 5 June, USPTO Director Squires initiated an ex officio review, requesting a focused examination of two issues: whether TikTok had disclosed all beneficial owners when filing the IPR, and whether any foreign government prohibited from participating was involved. Referring to the examination rules established in the previous Tianma Microelectronics case, the Director focused on whether TikTok had disclosed all actual interested parties when filing the IPR application, and whether any foreign governments prohibited from participating were involved.

The USPTO permitted TikTok to submit rebuttal evidence regarding the issue of beneficial owners; however, at this stage, TikTok chose not to submit rebuttal evidence but instead submitted supplementary briefs, including the original IPR petition, explaining that it had completed a shareholding restructuring through a new joint venture and had updated the mandatory notice to list the joint venture as the beneficial owner.

In response, Squires argued that TikTok had failed to fulfil its burden of proof and lacked standing to initiate the IPR. Squires contended that the relevant point in time for determining standing was the date of filing the IPR petition (April 2024), at which point TikTok remained under the control of an entity associated with a foreign government; subsequent changes in ownership had no bearing on the legal status at the time of filing. Consequently, the fact that TikTok subsequently sold its majority stake to the US joint venture cannot alter the determination of standing at the time of filing.

This revocation decision constitutes a direct procedural setback for TikTok. As the PTAB had previously accepted the IPRs, the district court proceedings were on hold; with all seven IPRs now revoked, the patent infringement litigation in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas will resume immediately.

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