FedCircuitBlog

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This morning, the Federal Circuit released three nonprecedential orders dismissing appeals and an errata.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

Earlier this month, the Federal Circuit released its opinion in Micron Technology Inc. v. Longhorn IP, LLC, a patent case we have been following because it attracted three amicus briefs. In it, the Federal Circuit reviewed a judgment of the District of Idaho, which held that federal patent law does not preempt Idaho’s Bad Faith Assertions of Patent Infringement Act and, as a result, imposed a bond of $8 million on Longhorn before the court would proceed with the case. In an opinion authored by Judge Lourie, the panel, consisting of Judges Lourie, Schall, and Stoll, dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction without reaching the merits. This is our opinion summary.

Late yesterday, the Federal Circuit released two nonprecedential orders dismissing appeals. This morning, the court released two nonprecedential opinions, four nonprecedential orders, and an errata. One of the two opinions comes in a patent infringement case; the other comes in a pro se appeal of a decision of the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. One of the four orders transfers a matter; another dismisses a petition for a writ of mandamus; and the other two dismiss appeals. Here are the introductions to the opinions and the first order and links to the dismissals and the errata.

This morning, the Federal Circuit released one nonprecedential opinion and four nonprecedential orders. The opinion comes in a pro se appeal from a decision of the Court of Federal Claims. Notably, Judge Cunningham concurred only in the result. One of the orders affirms a dismissal of a complaint by the Court of Federal Claims; another grants a motion to transfer an appeal; the final two dismiss appeals. Here are the introductions to the opinion and first two orders, along with links to the dismissals.