FedCircuitBlog

One patent case being argued next week, Kannuu Pty Ltd. v. Samsung Electronics Co., attracted amicus briefs. In this case, Kannuu appeals an adverse decision in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. On appeal, Kannuu argues that inter partes review proceedings brought by Samsung should have been enjoined due to a forum selection clause in a contractual agreement among the parties. Kannuu contends that the district court erroneously denied its related motion for a preliminary injunction. The arguments regarding the forum selection clause in the parties’ contract attracted dueling amicus briefs. This is our argument preview.

Here is an update on recent activity at the Supreme Court in cases decided by the Federal Circuit. As for granted cases, this week the Court decided Minerva Surgical, Inc. v. Hologic, Inc., in which the Court overturned the Federal Circuit’s approach to the assignor estoppel doctrine. Additionally, three cases were granted, vacated, and remanded based on the decision in United States v. Arthrex, Inc. regarding application of the Appointments Clause to administrative patent judges. As for petition cases:

Here are the details.

• a reply brief was submitted in support of a petition in a government contract case;
• the government filed a waiver of right to respond in a patent case;
• the Court dismissed one petition; and
• the Court denied five petitions, including four regarding application of the Appointments Clause to administrative patent judges.

This morning the Federal Circuit issued a precedential opinion in a veterans case, a nonprecedential opinion in a patent case addressing alleged contempt of a consent decree, and a precedential order granting three petitions for writs of mandamus in patent cases ordering the Western District of Texas to transfer the cases to the Northern District of California. Here are the introductions to the opinions and order.

Here is an update on recent en banc activity at the Federal Circuit. The court received a new petition in a patent case, which raised an issue related to the Patent and Trademark Office’s ability to deny inter partes review based on pending litigation concerning related patents. Here are the details.

This morning the Federal Circuit issued two nonprecedential opinions: one in a patent case appealed from a district court and the other in a veteran’s case appealed from the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. The court also issued two nonprecedential orders denying petitions for writs of mandamus: one regarding a stay of execution of a judgment in a patent case and the other regarding a motion to dismiss or transfer a patent case from the Western District of Texas to the Eastern District of Michigan. Here are the introductions to the opinions and orders.

This morning the Supreme Court issued its decision in Minerva Surgical, Inc. v. Hologic, Inc., a patent case reviewing the Federal Circuit’s approach to the doctrine of assignor estoppel. In a 5-4 split decision, the Court vacated and remanded the Federal Circuit’s judgment. In a majority opinion authored by Justice Kagan, the Supreme Court held that the Federal Circuit “was right to uphold” the doctrine but “failed to recognize the doctrine’s proper limits.” Here is a brief summary of the Court’s holding with quotations from Justice Kagan’s opinion as well as from dissenting opinions authored by Justices Alito and Barrett.

CAFC Denies Amgen Petition to Reconsider Enablement Test for Biotech Patents – In an article on IPWatchDog, Logan Murr reports on the Federal Circuit’s denial of an en banc petition raising questions related to enablement filed by filed by Amgen Inc. in their case against Sanofi, Aventisub LLC. 

AWS Urges Supreme Court to Reject Oracle JEDI Review Petition – John Hewitt Jones writes for FedScoop.com about how “Amazon Web Services has filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court urging it to reject an earlier petition by Oracle to renew its challenge to the Pentagon’s $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract.”

Federal Circuit Affirms Board Decision on Pandemic-Related Claim – On GovernmentContractsLegalForum.com, Steve McBrady, Charles Baek, Michelle Coleman, Rob Sneckenberg, John Nakoneczny, and Catherine Shames explain how the Federal Circuit “recently affirmed the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals’ (CBCA) decision denying a pandemic-related claim in Pernix Serka Joint Venture v. Secretary of State.”

Supreme Court Declines to Hear Cost Sharing Reduction Case – Susan Morse comments on HealthCareFinanceNews.com about how the Supreme Court will not hear a case decided by the Federal Circuit “regarding unpaid cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers.”

This morning, the Federal Circuit announced that the court has entered a new order concerning access to the National Courts Building complex in Washington, D.C., limiting access through August 31. Here is the text of today’s announcement.

This morning the Federal Circuit issued a nonprecedential opinion in a patent case affirming a decision of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey related to the definiteness requirement. Here is the introduction to the opinion.

This week we are previewing two cases being argued next week at the Federal Circuit that attracted amicus briefs. Today we highlight a veterans case, Larson v. McDonough. In this case, Larson asks the Federal Circuit to overrule what he characterizes as the Veterans Court’s prohibition of reviewing Board of Veterans Appeals decisions regarding the Department of Veterans Affairs Schedule of Disabilities. This is our argument preview.