FedCircuitBlog

Next week is Court Week at the Federal Circuit. As in the past several months, the court will hear most of its oral arguments telephonically given the coronavirus pandemic. Notably, however, as discussed in our recent post, “Panels B, E, H, K, and N will only be available through the online audio stream” on the Federal Circuit’s new YouTube channel. In total, the court will convene 17 panels to consider about 65 cases. Of these 65 cases, the court will hear oral arguments in 43. Of the argued cases, three attracted amicus briefs: one in a tax case, one in a patent case, and one in a death benefit case. Here’s what you need to know about these three cases.

This morning, the Federal Circuit and the Court of Federal Claims issued another joint order extending limitations on access to the Federal Courts Building, this time extending the limitations until March 31, 2021. The Federal Circuit also issued a notice with additional information related to the order. Here is the text from the court’s notice.

This morning, the Federal Circuit issued a precedential opinion affirming the dismissal of a government contracts case as time-barred. The Federal Circuit also issued a nonprecedential order late yesterday denying a petition for a writ of mandamus directing the Western District of Texas to transfer a patent case. Here are the introductions to the opinion and order.

One of the three cases being argued next week at the Federal Circuit that attracted amicus briefs is a death benefit case entitled Rolfingsmeyer v. Office of Personnel Management. In this case, the Federal Circuit will review the Merit Systems Protection Board’s decision denying Patricia Rolfingsmeyer a survivor annuity and a basic employee death benefit based on the death of Tina Sammons, her alleged common law spouse. This is our argument preview.

Today, the Federal Circuit announced that, starting with next month’s court session, it will begin offering a new live audio streaming program on the Federal Circuit’s new YouTube channel. Next month one oral argument will be streamed each day, but in April the court plans to live stream every oral argument using YouTube. Here is the text of today’s announcement.

This morning, the Federal Circuit issued a precedential opinion in a copyright case, vacating a decision by the Court of Federal Claims, which had absolved the U.S. Navy of copyright infringement. Here is the introduction to the opinion.

This morning, the Federal Circuit issued a nonprecedential opinion in a patent case appealed from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, a nonprecedential errata, and a Rule 36 judgment. Here is the introduction to the opinion, the text of the errata, and a link to the Rule 36 judgment.

Another case being argued next week at the Federal Circuit that attracted amicus briefs is Omni Medsci, Inc. v. Apple Inc. In this patent case, the Federal Circuit granted Apple’s motion for an interlocutory appeal to review two different district courts’ holdings with respect to an alleged standing problem. This is our argument preview.

Here is an update on recent en banc activity at the Federal Circuit in patent cases. The court denied two petitions raising questions related to inter partes review. That’s it! Here is a summary with links to the relevant case pages for more information.

Recently, a panel of the Federal Circuit granted 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. The panel treated the petition as requesting panel rehearing, granted the petition, and ordered a second oral argument in the case, which was held this morning. Here are the details of the case.