Opinions

This morning the Federal Circuit issued two nonprecedential opinions. The first opinion comes in a veterans case appealed from the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and the second opinion comes in a patent case appealed from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. The court also issued an erratum. Here are the introductions to the opinions and a link to the erratum.

Ransom v. McDonough (Nonprecedential)

In 1965, Iris Ransom married David Hightower. Mr. Hightower went on to serve on active duty in the United States Army from 1968 to 1970. The two remained married for 35 years until Mr. Hightower’s death from a myocardial infarction (or heart attack) in October 2000. In November 2002, Mrs. Ransom, then 57 years old, married Terry Ransom. In 2010, Mrs. Ransom applied for dependency and indemnity compensation (“DIC”) as Mr. Hightower’s surviving spouse. The Board of Veterans Appeals (“Board”) denied her claim on grounds that she did not qualify as a surviving spouse, and the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (“Veterans Court”) affirmed. Ransom v. Wilkie, No. 19-9127, 2020 WL 6478521, at *1, *4 (Vet. App. Nov. 4, 2020).

Mrs. Ransom now appeals the Veterans Court’s decision. We dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction

DirectPacket Research, Inc. v. Polycom, Inc. (Nonprecedential)

directPacket Research, Inc. appeals an inter partes review final written decision holding claims 1–23 of U.S. Patent No. 7,773,588 would have been obvious. For the following reasons, we vacate and remand.

Erratum