Opinions

Opinions & Orders – March 5, 2021

This morning, the Federal Circuit issued a nonprecedential opinion in a veterans case and a nonprecedential order denying a petition for an interlocutory appeal. The court also issued two Rule 36 judgments. Here is the introduction to the opinion, text from the order, and links to the Rule 36 judgments.

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Argument Recap / Panel Activity

Argument Recap – GlaxoSmithKline LLC v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.

As we previously reported, the Federal Circuit recently conducted a panel rehearing in GlaxoSmithKline LLC v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. In this case, Teva petitioned the en banc court to reconsider the panel’s decision that Teva induced infringement through use of a skinny label on its generic version of GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) drug Coreg. Teva pointed to Hatch-Waxman and asserted that Congress provided a statutory “carve-out” mechanism allowing a generic to adopt a skinny label for unpatented uses that cannot be blocked by a patent on one method of using the drug. The panel treated the motion as requesting panel rehearing and granted panel rehearing. This is our recap of the rehearing oral argument.

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Opinions

Opinions & Orders – March 4, 2021

This morning, the Federal Circuit issued two precedential opinions in government contract cases, one nonprecedential opinion in a veterans case, and one nonprecedential opinion in a patent case. Additionally, the court issued two Rule 36 judgments. Here are the introductions to the opinions and links to the Rule 36 judgements.

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Opinions

Opinions & Orders – March 3, 2021

This morning, the Federal Circuit issued a precedential opinion in a veterans case and a Rule 36 judgment. Here is the introduction to the opinion and a link to the Rule 36 judgment.

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En Banc Activity

Recent En Banc Activity

Here is an update on recent en banc activity at the Federal Circuit. New petitions were filed in two patent cases raising questions related to claim construction and the doctrine of equivalents. The court also denied seven petitions in patent cases raising questions related to Rule 36 judgments, injunctive relief, claim construction, awards of attorneys’ fees, eligible subject matter, deference to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, standing, inter partes review, and enablement. Here are the details.

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Opinions

Opinions & Orders – March 2, 2021

This morning, the Federal Circuit issued a precedential opinion in a patent case, reversing a district court’s judgment on indefiniteness. Additionally, the Federal Circuit issued two Rule 36 judgments. The introduction to the opinion and links to the Rule 36 judgments can be found here.

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Argument Recap

Argument Recap – National Association of Manufacturers v. Department of the Treasury

As we have been reporting, the Federal Circuit this month is hearing oral arguments in three cases that attracted amicus briefs. In a tax case, National Association of Manufacturers v. Department of the Treasury, the Federal Circuit heard argument Monday related to a decision by the U.S. Court of International Trade that regulations promulgated by the Department of Treasury to curtail “double drawback” (two tax refunds for the same exported merchandise) are invalid. This is our argument recap.

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Opinions

Opinions & Orders – March 1, 2021

This morning, the Federal Circuit issued precedential opinions in two patent cases, the first addressing infringement, enablement, damages, and willfulness, and the second addressing sanctions. The court also issued a nonprecedential opinion in another patent case, this opinion addressing motions to exclude expert testimony. Here are the introductions to the opinions.

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Federal Circuit Announcement

Federal Circuit Announces Updated Rules of Practice

This morning the Federal Circuit announced that an updated edition of the court’s rules are available on the court’s website. Here is the text of today’s announcement.

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Argument Preview

Argument Preview – United States v. Arthrex, Inc.

On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a much-anticipated patent case, United States v. Arthrex, Inc. The first issue for consideration by the Court is whether, for purposes of the Appointments Clause, administrative patent judges of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board are principal or inferior officers. The second issue is, if administrative patent judges are indeed principal officers, whether the Federal Circuit properly cured any Appointments Clause defect through the remedy it provided. This is our argument preview.

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