Here is a report on recent news and commentary related to the Federal Circuit and its cases. Today’s report highlights:
- a piece covering how “Howard Lutnick, President Donald Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, labeled the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s patent application backlog ‘unacceptable’ and committed to end what he called China’s abuse of the agency” in his Senate confirmation hearing;
- a blog post discussing how the Federal Circuit recently held that the “U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has jurisdiction over expired patents brought before it in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings”;
- an news alert discussing how the New Civil Liberties Alliance has filed an amicus brief claiming that “[t]he Federal Circuit must either permit the unlawfully suspended Judge Pauline Newman to participate in consideration of EcoFactor v. Google, or else vacate the order granting en banc rehearing in this case”; and
- an article analyzing the “top 5 most important bid protest decisions of 2024.”
Annelise Levy penned a piece for Bloomberg Law covering how “Howard Lutnick, President Donald Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, labeled the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s patent application backlog ‘unacceptable’ and committed to end what he called China’s abuse of the agency” in his Senate confirmation hearing. Levy discussed how, “during the hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee,” Lutnick claimed that his “pursuit will be rigorous reduction” of the backlog.
Eileen McDermott wrote a blog post for IP Watchdog discussing how the Federal Circuit recently held that the “U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has jurisdiction over expired patents brought before it in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings.” McDermott explained that while the Federal Circuit “has previously ruled in appeals from the PTAB involving expired patents, it has not ‘squarely addressed’ the subject until now.” For more information, check out the relevant opinion in Apple Inc. v. Gesture Technology Partners, LLC.
Joe Martyak posted a news alert for GlobalNewswire discussing how the New Civil Liberties Alliance has filed an amicus brief in the Federal Circuit’s pending en banc patent case claiming that the court “must either permit the unlawfully suspended Judge Pauline Newman to participate in consideration of EcoFactor v. Google, or else vacate the order granting en banc rehearing in this case.” Martyak highlighted how the New Civil Liberties Alliance argued “[t]he federal statute allowing courts to hear cases en banc unmistakably requires an en banc court to include all judges in ‘regular active service’ who are not recused,” which would include Newman. You can view the relevant case page here. We reported on the amicus brief earlier this week.
Aron Beezley, Nathaniel Greeson, and Patrick Quigley authored an article for Law360 analyzing the “top 5 most important bid protest decisions of 2024.” The authors note that these cases came out of the Federal Circuit, the Court of Federal Claims, and the U.S. Government Accountability Office.