FedCircuitBlog

This morning the Federal Circuit released three precedential opinions. The first comes in a patent case appealed from the Eastern District of Virginia; the second comes in a trade case appealed from the Court of International Trade; and the third comes in a veterans case appealed from the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Notably, in the trade case, Judge Newman dissented. The Federal Circuit also released three nonprecedential opinions in patent cases appealed from the Court of Federal Claims, the District of South Carolina, and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, respectively. Finally, the Federal Circuit released a nonprecedential order dismissing an appeal for failure to prosecute and a Rule 36 judgment. Here are the introductions to the opinions, a link to the dismissal, and a link to the Rule 36 judgment.

Here is an update on recent activity at the Supreme Court in cases decided by the Federal Circuit. The only activity to report is that one new petition was filed by a pro se petitioner. Here are the details.

This past Friday, the Federal Circuit issued a Notice of Proposed Amendments to the Federal Circuit Rules of Practice. The court proposes to amend several Federal Circuit Rules of Practice and the Practice Notes to three rules. If adopted, the amendments would take effect on December 1, 2022. While there are many proposed amendments, as a highlight, some of the proposed changes include excluding inside front cover contents from word counts, requiring parties to file argument scheduling conflict notices even in the absence of conflicts, decreasing required number of paper copies, and creating an expanded notice requirement when there are related cases in other tribunals to provide the court with additional information on participating parties, firms, and attorneys. Here is the full text of the announcement, a summary of the proposed amendments, and links to a redlined copy and clean copy of the proposed amendments. Also note that public comments in response to the proposed amendments must be received by the Clerk of Court on or before October 3, 2022.

This morning the Federal Circuit released a precedential opinion in a patent case appealed from the District of Delaware. In its opinion, the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of a patent infringement complaint under the duplicative-litigation doctrine. The Federal Circuit also released three nonprecedential opinions. The first and second opinions come in veterans cases appealed from the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims; the third comes in an employment case appealed from the Merit Systems Protection Board. Here are the introductions to the opinions.

Here is an update on recent en banc activity at the Federal Circuit in patent cases. The court received a new petition raising questions related to claim construction. That’s it. Here are the details.

This morning the Federal Circuit released a precedential opinion in a trade case appealed from the Court of International Trade. In its opinion, the Federal Circuit affirmed the Court of International Trade’s decision to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction amended complaints seeking refunds. Here is the introduction to the opinion.

Here is a report on recent news and commentary related to the Federal Circuit and its cases. Today’s report highlights:

• an article reporting how the Federal Circuit concluded that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board “did not improperly place the burden of persuasion for proving unpatentability of proposed substitute claims . . . on [the patent owner].”
• another article highlighting an upcoming Federal Circuit argument concerning constitutional standing; and
• a blog post discussing “the scope of ‘comparison prior art’ available for the ordinary observer infringement analysis” in design patent cases.

This week is Court Week at the Federal Circuit, with hearings starting today. The Federal Circuit is providing access to live audio of each panel scheduled for argument via the Federal Circuit’s YouTube channel. In total, the court will convene four panels to consider about 25 cases. Of these 25 cases, the court will hear oral arguments in 15. Of these argued cases, one case attracted an amicus brief. Here’s what you need to know about that case.

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

Here is a report on recent news and commentary related to the Federal Circuit and its cases. Today’s report highlights:

• an article discussing Moderna’s claim “that Pfizer and BioNTech unlawfully copied Moderna’s inventions”;
• an article summarizing the Federal Circuit recent ruling “that ‘plain meaning’ [of patent claims] cannot be interpreted in a vacuum”; and
• a third article highlighting the Federal Circuit’s decision to allow Apple and several other tech companies to “continue to import and sell their smartphone devices.”