FedCircuitBlog

The Federal Circuit did not release any opinions or orders this morning on its website.

Here is a report on recent news and commentary related to the Federal Circuit and its cases. Today we highlight:

• an article suggesting that “[t]wo decisions issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit within the past couple of months have brought” the difference between patent and trademark preemptive infringement remedies “into sharper focus”;
• a blog post discussing how “[p]atent filings are now mined not only by competitors, but by governments, intelligence agencies, sovereign investors, and increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence systems capable of analyzing millions of documents simultaneously”;
• an article highlighting how “[t]wo important patent prosecution data points that are in tension: [t]he vast majority of patent applications are initially rejected by the patent examiner; and [t]he vast majority of patent applications eventually issue as a patent”; and
• an article arguing that, “over the past several months, the Trump administration has eroded” the Merit System Protection Board’s “authority in a series of steps that some former officials say have left the board a shell of the institution it once was.”

This morning, the Federal Circuit released a nonprecedential opinion in a case appealed from the Merit Systems Protection Board, as well as two nonprecedential orders dismissing appeals. Here is the introduction to the opinion along with links to the dismissals.

This morning, the Federal Circuit released two precedential opinions. One opinion comes in a veterans case appealed from the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and the other comes in a patent case addressing standing appealed from the Eastern District of Virginia. Here are the introductions to the opinions.

Here is a report on recent news and commentary related to the Federal Circuit and its cases. Today we highlight:

• a blog post suggesting a recent Federal Circuit “decision is important because it overturns USPTO policy implementing” the America Invents Act and, “ultimately, . . . gives patent owners a new way to knock out references that reach back to a priority filing date”;
• a blog post contemplating how the “absence of a presumption of irreparable harm” in a recent Federal Circuit decision “remains a fraught issue”;
• a blog post reporting that “[f]ormer Deputy Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Coke Morgan Stewart, has joined the Council for Innovation Promotion as President and CEO;” and
• an article arguing that President “Trump’s resistance to judicial review goes beyond criticizing the reasoning or conclusions of judges who rule against him.”

Late yesterday, the Federal Circuit released a nonprecedential order dismissing an appeal. This morning, the Federal Circuit released two precedential opinions. One comes in a veterans case appealed from the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and the other comes in response to a petition to review a final decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board. Here are the introductions to the opinions as well as a link to the dismissal.

Here is an update on recent en banc activity at the Federal Circuit. Since our last update, one petition for rehearing en banc was granted in a case raising a question related to whether veterans’ preference rights are applicable to veterans currently employed by the federal government, and one new amicus brief was filed in a case raising a question related to the President’s Article II removal powers. In addition, one new petition for en banc rehearing was filed raising questions related to appellate procedure and means-plus-function treatment. Lastly, three petitions were denied in cases raising questions related to test for design patent infringement, the constitutional right to a jury trial, the Administrative Procedure Act, appellate procedure, and transfer. Here are the details.

This morning, the Federal Circuit released one precedential opinion, one nonprecedential opinion, and one nonprecedential order. The precedential opinion comes in a patent case appealed from the Southern District of Texas. The nonprecedential opinion comes in another patent case appealed from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. The nonprecedential order dismisses an appeal. Here are the introductions to the opinions as well as a link to the dismissal.

Here is an update on recent activity at the Supreme Court in cases decided by the Federal Circuit. There are currently no pending cases previously decided by the Federal Circuit. As for pending petitions, since our last update, three new petitions were filed in a patent case and two pro se cases; three waivers of the right to respond to a petition was filed in a case originally decided by the Merit Systems Protection Board and two pro se cases; a reply brief in support of a petition was filed in a veterans case; and seven amicus briefs were filed in one patent case. Here are the details.

Late yesterday, the Federal Circuit released a nonprecedential order dismissing an appeal. This morning, the court released a nonprecedential opinion in a patent case appealed from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Here is the introduction to the opinion as well as a link to the dismissal.