Here is a report on recent news and commentary related to the Federal Circuit and its cases. Today’s report highlights:
- two articles discussing Federal Circuit-nominee and currently District of Delaware Judge Leonard Stark’s recent confirmation hearing;
- another article about a potential patent infringement lawsuit related to a COVID-19 vaccine; and
- an article discussing a recent petition filed at the Supreme Court related to patent eligibility law.
Perry Cooper published an article with Bloomberg discussing Judge Stark’s confirmation hearing. In it, she highlighted how Judge Stark told the committee that he “will bring . . . a recognition of how challenging it is to put together a reviewable record in a patent case,” and how he would be someone “who would adhere strictly to the applicable standard of review” and “strive . . . to provide clear guidance and written opinions.” She also noted that “Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the IP subcommittee, raised some hot-button patent issues in his questioning, including predictability of Federal Circuit decisions, standing to appeal patent office decisions, and fights over venue for patent cases.”
Blake Brittain filed an article with Reuters also reporting on Judge Stark’s confirmation hearing. He reported that “[m]embers of the Senate Judiciary Committee praised [his] extensive experience with patent cases.” Notably, he also reported that “Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont criticized the Federal Circuit during the hearing for what he called ‘unpredictable’ patent decisions” and said that, “[i]f we don’t have some idea of predictability, I think the Federal Circuit is not serving its purpose.”
In another article published with Bloomberg, Brendon Pierson reported that “Moderna Inc . . . could face a patent infringement lawsuit over its COVID-19 vaccine” after the Federal Circuit “rejected its challenge to patents belonging to Arbutus Biopharma Corp.”
Ryan Davis published an article in Law 360 discussing how “[t]he owners of a digital camera patent that was invalidated as an abstract idea in a dispute with Apple and Samsung told the U.S. Supreme Court that, unless it steps in, ‘virtually every machine’ using processors faces the same fate under the current state of patent eligibility law.”