Court Week

This week (and on Monday and Tuesday next week) the Federal Circuit will hold 17 panel hearings and hear oral arguments in about 53 cases. Amicus briefs were filed in three of these cases. The first is a patent case drawing attention because of a challenge to the district court’s prevailing party determination, a prerequisite for attorney fee awards. The second is a sister case to three cases argued at the Supreme Court last month, Maine, Moda, and Land of Lincoln. And the third case, which presents a challenge to the delegation of power to the President to impose tariffs on steel products, saw two amicus briefs supporting the challenger and two supporting the government.

Dragon Intellectual Property v. DISH Network LLC

As previewed on this blog, in this case the appellants challenge the district court’s conclusion that they were not prevailing parties in a patent case. They obtained a final judgment of noninfringement, but that judgment was vacated as moot when the the Patent Trial and Appeal Board canceled the relevant patent. In this appeal, they argue that “[o]btaining final judgment of noninfringement before any intervening act of mootness [as a result of prevailing at the PTAB] satisfies the prevailing party requirement.” They also contend that district courts should have discretion to award fees for “ancillary proceedings, such as PTAB actions” and to award fees “against attorneys as jointly and severally liable with the parties they represent.” The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed an amicus brief supporting the appellants.

Jamie R. Lynn will argue for DISH Network LLC and Mark A. Baghdassarian will argue for Sirius XM Radio Inc.

Robert E. Freitas will argue for himself, Jason S. Angell, and Freitas & Weinberg LLP, while Dragon Intellectual Property waived oral argument.

This case is scheduled to be argued this morning at 10:00 A.M. in Courtroom 402.

Sanford Health Plan v. United States

As noted, this case is a sister case to the three cases argued at the Supreme Court last month, Maine, Moda, and Land of Lincoln. Here, the United States is challenging another decision by the Court of Federal Claims that held it liable for damages based on failure to compensate insurance companies for costs they incurred pursuant to the Affordable Care Act. This case attracted two amicus briefs in support of the health insurance companies.

Note that the Federal Circuit granted a motion by the parties to consolidate the oral argument in this case with the oral argument in two similar cases, Community Health Choice Inc. v. United States and Maine Community Health Options v. United States. Each side will have thirty minutes (rather than the normal fifteen minutes) for the consolidated oral argument.

Alisa B. Klein will argue for the United States.

Daniel W. Wolff will argue for Sanford Health Plan, Montana Health CO-OP, Community Health Choice, Inc., and Maine Community Health Options.

This case is scheduled to be argued Thursday at 10:00 A.M. in Courtroom 402. We will provide an argument preview later this week.

American Institute for International Steel v. United States

In this case, the American Institute for International Steel presents a facial challenge and an as applied challenge to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which is codified at 19 U.S.C. § 1862. In particular, the Institute challenges President Trump’s use of Section 232 to impose billions of dollars in tariffs on imported steel products. The Institute argues that Section 232 unconstitutionally delegates legislative power to the President in violation of Article I, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution. The case has attracted four amicus briefs, two supporting the appellant and two supporting the United States.

Alan B. Morrison will argue for the American Institute for International Steel and the other appellants, Kurt Orban Partners, LLC and Sim-Tex, LP.

Tara K. Hogan will argue for the United States and the Commissioner of Customs & Border Protection.

This case is scheduled to be argued Friday at 10:00 AM in Courtroom 201. We will post an argument preview later this week.