FedCircuitBlog

Here is an update on recent en banc activity at the Federal Circuit in patent cases. The court received and invited a response to a new petition raising questions related to enablement. The court also denied three petitions raising questions related definiteness, intervening rights, willfulness, unclean hands, claim construction, and the doctrine of equivalents. Here are the details.

This morning the Federal Circuit released a nonprecedential opinion in a takings case and two nonprecedential opinions in patent cases, one affirming the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and another dismissing an appeal for lack of constitutional standing. The court also issued a nonprecedential order granting a petition for a writ of mandamus ordering the Western District of Texas to transfer a patent infringement case. Notably, this order marked the second grant of mandamus against the Western District of Texas in the same case. The first grant of mandamus required the Western District of Texas to rule on a long-pending motion to transfer, while this second grant of mandamus requires the Western District of Texas to transfer the case.

• Roche Challenges $171M Patent Judgment At Federal Circuit – Meso Scale Diagnostic’s $171M verdict has been appealed by Roche to the Federal Circuit on Wednesday.
• Raytheon Engine Patent Wrongly Nixed by “Futuristic” Invention – In a precedential opinion issued Thursday, the Federal Circuit reversed the PTAB’s decision to invalidate Raytheon’s patent based on obviousness.
• Federal Circuit Told Albright Has “Impossible Barrier” To Stay Cases – The Federal Circuit received a petition for a writ of mandamus to order Judge Albright to grant a stay during a review by the PTAB.

Here’s the latest.

This morning, the Federal Circuit issued a precedential opinion in a veterans case. Here is the introduction to the opinion.

• NYIPLA Amicus Brief in Ericsson v. Samsung Advocates the Adjudication of U.S. Patent Rights by U.S. Courts – The New York Intellectual Property Law Association (NYIPLA) recently submitted an amicus brief urging the Federal Circuit to balance the interests of the U.S. in resolving domestic patent protection against the rule of comity.
• Vivint Patent Ruling Upheld Over Belated Appointments Argument – The Federal Circuit ruled that Vivint forfeited the constitutional arguments from Arthrex when it failed to raise such arguments on appeal, even though Arthrex had not yet been issued at the time of the appeal.
• Banks Face Lawsuit ‘Frenzy’ After Business Patent Reviews End – In the last eight months, nearly three times as many patent suits involving financial services patents have been filed against banks and e-commerce companies after the PTO’s covered business method review program expired last September.

Here’s the latest.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Minerva Surgical, Inc. v. Hologic, Inc., the case that is predicted to determine the fate of the assignor estoppel doctrine. Specifically, the question presented to the Court is: “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.” This is our argument preview.

Here is an update on recent activity at the Supreme Court in cases decided by the Federal Circuit.

• The Court received three new petitions for writ of certiorari.
• Three new response briefs were filed with the Court in the following cases: Merit Medical Systems, Inc. v. Khan, Maine Community Health Options v. United States, and Sandoz Inc. v. Immunex Corp.
• Two new response briefs were filed with the Court in American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc. v. Neapco Holdings LLC and Khan v. Merit Medical Systems Inc.
• The Court received one new waiver of right to respond from the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in Blanton v. Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

Here are the details.

This morning, the Federal Circuit issued a precedential opinion in a patent case concerning whether a reference needs a self-enabling disclosure to support obviousness and another precedential opinion in a government contracts case. The court also issued a Rule 36 judgment. Here are the introductions to the opinions and a link to the Rule 36 judgment.

Here is this month’s update on activity in cases pending before panels of the Federal Circuit where the cases involve at least one amicus brief. We keep track of these cases in the “Other Cases” section of our blog. Today, with respect to these cases we highlight two recent oral arguments in a veteran’s case and a patent case, as well as three upcoming oral arguments in a patent case, veteran’s case, and a case concerning the jurisdiction of the Merit Systems Protection Board.

This morning, the Federal Circuit issued a nonprecedential opinion in a government contract case affirming a holding of the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals. Here is the introduction to the opinion.