News

Here is a report on recent news and commentary related to the Federal Circuit and its cases. Today’s report highlights:

  • an article commenting on the Federal Circuit’s recent decision that “only humans can be considered inventors under current U.S. patent laws”;
  • an article about how the Federal Circuit “let a Turkish steel pipe producer off the hook in a years-long anti-dumping duties dispute”; and
  • a third article about the Federal Circuit’s role in litigation surrounding property flooding in Houston during Hurricane Harvey.

Vadim Cherkasov and Jeffrey P. Safran co-authored an article for Law.com, commenting on the Federal Circuit’s recent decision that “only humans can be considered inventors under current U.S. patent laws.” Cherkasov and Safran explained that this decision “reinforces what has been decided in foreign jurisdictions,” specifically Europe, the U.K., and Australia. Cherkasov and Safran noted, however, that the Federal Circuit’s “decision focused on whether AI could be listed as the sole inventor and did not address instances in which humans use AI to assist with conception of an invention,” and suggest this may be a dispute in future litigation.

Hayley Fowler wrote an article for Law360 summarizing the Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Borusan Mannesmann Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. v. United States. Fowler reported how the Federal Circuit “let a Turkish steel pipe producer off the hook in a years-long anti-dumping duties dispute.”

Michelle Casady published an article with Texas Lawbook discussing the Federal Circuit’s determination that “Judge Loren A. Smith of the Court of Federal Claims got it wrong when he dismissed the [takings] claims of thousands of property owners.” As Casady explained, Judge Smith had reasoned that the property owners “weren’t entitled to ‘perfect flood control in the face of an Act of God.'”