News

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

  • an article discussing how the “U.S. Patent and Trademark Office wants the D.C. Circuit to transfer a suit, which challenges a denial of a bid for a proposed rule that would cut down on unwarranted patent invalidity reviews, to the Federal Circuit”; and
  • an article about how a “Dallas-area owner of a patent assertion firm asked the Federal Circuit to pause a rolling $200-a-day civil-contempt fine imposed against her after she refused to travel to Delaware to testify before a federal judge.”

Adam Lidgett wrote an article for Law360 discussing how the “U.S. Patent and Trademark Office wants the D.C. Circuit to transfer a suit, which challenges a denial of a bid for a proposed rule that would cut down on unwarranted patent invalidity reviews, to the Federal Circuit.” According to Lidgett, “the suit claimed the USPTO and its director, Kathi Vidal, flouted the [Administrative Procedure Act] by denying an August 2020 petition to change the rules on the institution of America Invents Act trials.”

Michael Shapiro authored an article for Bloomberg Law about how a “Dallas-area owner of a patent assertion firm asked the Federal Circuit to pause a rolling $200-a-day civil-contempt fine imposed against her after she refused to travel to Delaware to testify before a federal judge.” Shapiro notes how she urged the “Federal Circuit to pause the contempt action in light of the strength of her argument on appeal—namely, that as a non-party she can’t be forced to testify in person at the Delaware proceedings absent a subpoena.”