Argument Recap

Argument Recap – In re Google

Last Friday, a panel of the Federal Circuit heard oral argument in In re Google, a patent case. As we noted in our argument preview, Google seeks a writ of mandamus ordering the district court (here, Chief Judge Gilstrap of the Eastern District of Texas) to dismiss the case for lack of venue. Chief Judge Gilstrap concluded that Google’s “edge servers” located at Internet Service Provider locations within the district constitute a “regular and established place of business” of Google, subjecting Google to venue in the district court. We are keeping track of the case because it attracted an amicus brief. In that brief, a group of companies lodged their support for Google’s position that these servers do not suffice under the venue statute. Here is our argument recap.

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Opinions

Today’s Opinions – December 20, 2019

This morning the Federal Circuit issued one nonprecedential opinion in a patent case. Here is the introduction to the opinion.

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Petitions / Supreme Court Activity

Recent Supreme Court Activity

Here is an update on recent activity at the Supreme Court in cases decided by the Federal Circuit. Highlights include a recap of the oral argument in MaineModa , and Land of Lincoln, a new petition in an MSPB case, a response by the Solicitor General to a petition raising questions related to patent eligibility in the context of computer-implemented technology, and a reply in support of a petition in a case raising questions related to sovereign immunity and inter partes reviews of patents. Here are the details.

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Opinions

Today’s Opinions – December 19, 2019

This morning the Federal Circuit issued one precedential opinion in a patent case. Here is the opinion’s introduction.

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En Banc Activity / Petitions

Recent En Banc Activity

Here is an update on recent en banc activity at the Federal Circuit in patent cases. Highlights include three new petitions (including, notably, in Arthrex, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew, Inc.), a response to the petition and several amicus briefs in support of the petition in American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc. v. Neapco Holdings LLC, and the denial of three petitions. Here are the details.

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Opinions

Today’s Opinions – December 18, 2019

This morning the Federal Circuit issued two precedential opinions, both in patent cases. Here are the introductions to the opinions.

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Scholarship

Recent Scholarship Related to the Federal Circuit

This month we highlight three recent papers addressing the Federal Circuit and the areas of law under its jurisdiction. One paper promotes the idea of allowing agencies, such as Veterans Affairs, to aggregate individual claims, such as through class action lawsuits. Another paper focuses on the impact of the Supreme Court’s affirmance of the Federal Circuit’s conclusion that the statutory ban on registration of immoral marks is unconstitutional. And the third paper proposes that appellate courts defer to jury determinations of fair use of copyrights—a standard of review the Federal Circuit notably did not use in its consideration of the dispute between Google and Oracle now pending at the Supreme Court.

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Opinions

Today’s Opinions – December 17, 2019

This morning the Federal Circuit issued a precedential opinion in a patent case and a nonprecedential opinion in another patent case. Here are the introductions to the opinions.

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News

Recent News on the Federal Circuit

Here is a report on recent news and commentary related to the Federal Circuit and its cases. Today’s report highlights recent discussion of march-in rights by Democratic candidates for president, identification of a trend toward use of the enablement requirement rather than the written description requirement to invalidate patent claims in the life-sciences, and analysis of a revised dataset exploring the divergence in treatment of patent eligibility between the United States and the European Patent Office and/or China.

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Opinions

Today’s Opinions – December 16, 2019

This morning the Federal Circuit issued two precedential opinions in patent cases. Here are the introductions to the opinions.

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