FedCircuitBlog

Late yesterday, the Federal Circuit released a nonprecedential order dismissing an appeal. This morning, the court released three nonprecedential opinions and a Rule 36 judgment. One of the opinions comes in a patent infringement case. The other two come in appeals of decisions of the Merit Systems Protection Board, one of which involves a pro se party. Here are the introductions to the opinions and links to the dismissal and judgment.

Here is a report on recent news and commentary related to the Federal Circuit and its cases. Today we highlight:

• an article reporting how National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett “predicted that the justices will rule in the White House’s favor” in President Trump’s tariffs cases;
• an article discussing how “[t]he Federal Circuit will kick-start 2026 continuing to grapple with a suite of challenges seeking to block significant changes to patent validity review procedures at the US Patent and Trademark Office”; and
• an article arguing “the Supreme Court should grant review in Lynk Labs Inc. v. Samsung Co.” to clarify the Loper Bright doctrine.

Late December 31, the Federal Circuit released a nonprecedential order dismissing an appeal. This morning, the Federal Circuit released three nonprecedential orders, two dismissing appeals and one deconsolidating appeals. Here is the introduction to the order deconsolidating appeals as well as links to the dismissals.

This week is Court Week at the Federal Circuit. The court will convene 12 panels to consider 65 cases. Of the 65 cases, the court will hear oral argument in 44. The Federal Circuit provides access to live audio of these arguments via the Federal Circuit’s YouTube channel. This month, one case scheduled for oral argument attracted amicus briefs. Here’s what you need to know about this case.

One case being argued at the Federal Circuit in January attracted amicus briefs. That case is Apple Inc. v. Squires. In it, Apple Inc., Cisco Systems, Inc., Google LLC, and Intel Corp. appeal a district court’s determination that the adoption of a precedential framework by the Patent and Trademark Office to govern whether the Patent Trial and Appeal Board will institute inter partes review when parallel district court litigation exists did not require notice-and-comment rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act. This is our argument preview.

The Federal Circuit did not release any new opinions or orders this morning on its website.

Here is an update on recent en banc activity at the Federal Circuit. Since our last update, the Federal Circuit issued an en banc opinion in a case addressing federal employment law. There also have been four new petitions for en banc rehearing asking questions related to contract interpretation, standing, prior art, and sanctions and fee awards. The Federal Circuit also denied three petitions for en banc rehearing in patent cases. Here are the details.

Happy New Year! The Federal Circuit is closed today and should not release any new opinions or orders on its website.

This morning, the Federal Circuit released three nonprecedential orders dismissing appeals and an errata. Here are links to the orders and the errata.

This morning, the Federal Circuit announced that it will be closed today, December 31, 2025, beginning at 1:00 p.m. in addition to the federal holiday tomorrow, January 1, 2026. All electronic filing deadlines will remain in effect. Here is the text to the full announcement.