FedCircuitBlog

This morning the Federal Circuit issued a precedential opinion reversing a judgment of the United States Court of Federal Claims in a vaccine case. The court also issued two nonprecedential opinions, one in a veterans case and one in a patent case. Here are the introductions to the opinions.

• Can a Patent Violate the Laws of Chemistry and Physics? – In this blog post, Audrey Millemann of TheIPBlog.com explains that the quick answer is no, patents may not violate the laws of chemistry and physics.
• Federal Circuit Reaffirms Targeted Advertising Is an Abstract Concept – On NationalLawReview.com, three Finnegan attorneys report on a recent determination by the Federal Circuit that certain claims were directed to an abstract idea of targeted advertising.

Here’s the latest.

This morning the Federal Circuit issued a nonprecedential opinion in a case appealed from Patent Trial and Appeal Board. In it, the court affirmed a judgment that the claims at issue are ineligible for patenting under under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Here is the introduction to the opinion.

Here is an update on recent en banc activity at the Federal Circuit. We are still waiting for the court to issue an opinion in Arellano v. McDonough, an en banc veterans case. As for pending petitions in patent cases, highlights include new petitions concerning Patent Trial and Appeal Board termination of inter partes review proceedings, reviewability of Board discovery rulings related to real-party-in-interest disputes, the utilization of expert witnesses in district court summary judgment proceedings, and standing before the Board. Here are the details.

This morning the Federal Circuit issued two nonprecedential opinions in patent cases affirming decisions of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Here are the introductions to the opinions.

• Federal Circuit Affirms Decision to Vacate Judgment Following Evidence of Fraud – Joseph Marinelli at JDSupra.com commented on a recent decision by the Federal Circuit that may have implications in future attempts to vacate a final judgments based on allegations of fraud, misrepresentation, or misconduct by an opposing party.
• Federal Circuit Revives Trimble Patent Claims in Jurisdiction Ruling – Blake Brittain from Reuters reported about the Federal Circuit’s reversal of a district court’s decision to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.
• License Agreement Not Enough for Standing on Appeal of an IPR Apple Inc. v. Qualcomm Inc. – Alexandra Leigh Lodge and George E. Quillin reported for NationalLawReview.com about how Apple was unable to prove that it had standing to appeal final written decisions of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

Here is the latest.

This morning the Federal Circuit issued one precedential opinion affirming the United States Court of Federal Claims in a Tucker Act case. Here is the introduction to the opinion.

On April 21, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Minerva Surgical, Inc. v. Hologic, Inc. As we highlighted in our argument preview, the question presented to the Court was “whether a defendant in a patent infringement action who assigned the patent, or is in privity with an assignor of the patent, may have a defense of invalidity heard on the merits.” In other words, the parties argued for and against the doctrine of assignor estoppel. This is our argument recap.

This morning the Federal Circuit issued two precedential opinions, one reviewing a decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board and the other reviewing a decision of the Court of International Trade; two nonprecedential opinions, one reviewing another decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board and the other in a patent case; a nonprecedential order in Oracle America, Inc. v. Oracle LLC, on remand from the Supreme Court; and two Rule 36 summary affirmances. Here are the introductions to the opinions, text from the order, and a list of the summary affirmances.

• Consensus-Building Judge Taking the Reins at Federal Circuit – According to Perry Cooper at BloombergLaw.com, as the new Chief of the Federal Circuit, Judge Moore could try to bring the court together on sticky issues.
• Court Reverses Ruling Critics Said Left Feds Vulnerable to Retaliation, Citing ‘Magnitude’ of Errors – Eric Katz at GovernmentExecutive.com commented on a recent employment law decision by the Federal Circuit reversing the Merit Systems Protection Board.
• Australian Company Loses Ugg Trademark Battle – Yan Zhuang from the New York Times reported on a Federal Circuit trademark decision that reportedly “hits a nerve for Australians, who consider [Ugg] footwear a national, if unfashionable, symbol.”

Here is the latest.