FedCircuitBlog

Only one case being argued next week at the Federal Circuit attracted any amicus briefs, Conversant Wireless Licensing v. Apple Inc. This case previously came to the Federal Circuit in 2018 when the court determined that Apple infringed a patent asserted by Conversant. The court, however, remanded the case to the district court to determine whether the patent was unenforceable. On remand, the district court found that the patent was unenforceable, and Conversant now appeals that judgment. This is our argument preview.

Only one case being argued next week at the Federal Circuit attracted an amicus brief, Amgen Inc. v. Watson Laboratories, Inc. In this case, Amgen, a patent owner, asks the Federal Circuit to force a district court to vacate its judgment of non-infringement in favor of a consent judgment of infringement. This is our argument preview.

Two cases that attracted amicus briefs are being argued on Monday, June 8. The cases are related. Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A brought separate breach of contract and patent infringement claims against two different alleged infringers, Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Alkem Laboratories Limited. In both cases, Takeda appeals the district court’s denial of its motions for preliminary injunctions. Takeda argues that license agreements between Takeda and the accused infringers do not allow for the production of generic versions of Takeda’s patented product at this time. Here is our argument preview.

The third case being argued this month that attracted an amicus brief is a patent case, Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Hulu, LLC. This case is an appeal from an invalidation of patent claims in an inter partes review proceeding. In it, Uniloc argues the Patent Trial and Appeal Board “erred in denying, based only on a § 101 patent eligibility challenge, Uniloc’s motion to amend the patent.” In particular, Uniloc’s position is that § 101 challenges are not permissible in IPRs, even with respect to proposed new claims. This is our argument preview.

Another case being argued this month at the Federal Circuit that attracted an amicus brief is Sellers v. Wilkie. In this case, the government appeals the grant of benefits to a veteran. The government alleges that this case presents the question of “[w]hether a claimant’s general statement requesting benefits on a formal claim form that identifies specific disabilities constitutes a claim for all ‘reasonably identifiable’ diagnoses within the claimant’s records.” This is our argument preview.

Next week, the Federal Circuit will hear oral arguments in Hardy v. the United States. Hardy v. United States is a takings case on appeal from the United States Court of Federal Claims. The heart of the dispute concerns whether several deeds at issue granted an interest in fee simple or an easement in the disputed parcels of land. This case attracted one amicus brief discussed further below. Two issues will be presented for the court’s review. Here is a preview of the case and issues on appeal.

The only case being argued next week that attracted an amicus brief is Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. v. 10X Genomics Inc. The appellant in this case, 10X Genomics,Inc., presented five issues for the court to review, covering aspects of literal infringement, infringement under the doctrine of equivalents, claim construction, damages, and injunctive relief. The amicus brief, however, focused only on the issue of injunctive relief. This case will be argued at the Federal Circuit on Friday, April 10. This is our argument preview.

The fourth case scheduled to be argued next week that attracting an amicus brief is Immunex Corp. v. Sandoz Inc. A patent case, it drew interest from Samsung Bioepis and the Association for Accessible Medicines, respectively, concerning the issues of obviousness and double patenting. Both amici argue for reversal of the lower court decision in favor of the appellants, Sandoz Inc., Sandoz International GMBH, and Sandoz GMBH. Here is our argument preview.

Another case that will be argued next week is Caquelin v. United States, which attracted three amicus briefs. The Federal Circuit will be asked to address two questions related to takings law. First, the court will consider whether the Court of Federal Claims erred in holding that a notice of interim trail use (“NITU”) “amounted to a government-authorized physical occupation of the underlying property for purposes of [a] takings analysis.” Second, the court will consider whether the Court of Federal Claims erred in finding a taking under the “multifactor analysis of Arkansas Game [and Fish Comm’n v. United States].” Here is our preview of the arguments that will be presented to the court.

Next week is argument week at the Federal Circuit, and four cases slated to be argued attracted amicus briefs. A patent case, Biogen MA v. EMD Serono, Inc., drew interest from Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals on the issue of invalidity of a patent “for the use of recombinant IFN-β ‘polypeptides’ to treat various diseases.” Here is our argument preview.