FedCircuitBlog

The U.S. Court’s website reveals that Federal Circuit Judge Kathleen O’Malley plans to retire from the bench on March 11, 2022. Judge O’Malley has served as a Federal Circuit judge for over ten years and, given her past experience as a federal district judge, as a federal judge for over twenty-six years. Notably, when paired with Judge Wallach’s taking senior status this past May, Judge O’Malley’s retirement may mean that the Federal Circuit will not have any active judge with prior experience as a trial judge. That said, coming on the heels of Tiffany Cunningham’s confirmation vote last week, Judge O’Malley’s retirement will provide President Biden with his second opportunity to appoint a judge to the Federal Circuit, and perhaps President Biden will seek an experienced district judge to fill Judge O’Malley’s position.

Here is an update on recent en banc activity at the Federal Circuit in patent cases. The court did not receive any new en banc filings last week. The court did, however, issue denials in parallel patent cases concerning competitor standing. Here are the details.

This morning the Federal Circuit issued a precedential opinion in a patent case, in which the court vacated and remanded final written decisions in six inter partes review proceedings appealed from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Here is the introduction to the opinion.

Senate Confirms Tiffany P. Cunningham, First Black Circuit Court Judge to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit – On BlackEnterprise.com, Andrea Blackstone reports on Tiffany Cunningham’s Senate confirmation and classifies it as a “historic moment . . . in the America judicial system.”

Thoughts on Tiffany Cunningham’s Confirmation to the CAFC – Eileen McDermott reports on what Tiffany Cunningham’s appointment “might mean for the [Federal Circuit] long term.”

They Patented a Better SandBox — Obviousness IPRs – Dennis Crouch reports the Federal Circuit decision in Oren Tech v. Proppant Express, where the court rejected “a PTAB IPR decision because the precise obviousness argument regarding a functional limitation was not expressly stated. . . [and has] another go-round with the PTAB failing to consider commercial success.”

Fed Circ Revives Chemours Polymer Patents, Reverses PTAB Ruling – On Reuters.com, Blake Brittain reports on Chemours Company FC LLC v. Daikin Industries Ltd., where “Daikin challenged patent validity based on earlier invention.”

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

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 one disposition in a veterans law case, two oral argument recaps in a patent case and a veterans law case, four new patent cases, a patent case with new briefing, and four upcoming oral arguments in related Tucker Act cases. Here are the details.

This morning the Federal Circuit issued a nonprecedential opinion in a patent case appealed from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and a nonprecedential opinion dismissing an appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for lack of jurisdiction. Here are the introductions to the opinions.

Senate Confirms Perkins Coie’s Tiffany Cunningham to Federal Circuit – On Reuters.com, Blake Brittain reports on the confirmation of Tiffany Cunningham to the Federal Circuit.

Tiffany Cunningham Confirmed by Senate as First Black Federal Circuit Judge – Jack Rodgers posted an article on Courthouse News Service also about Judge Cunningham’s confirmation.

Federal Circuit: Clear Attempts to Manipulate Venue Won’t Defeat Motions to Transfer – On IPWatchDog.com, Eilieen McDermott writes about how the Federal Circuit “granted Samsung’s and LG’s writs of mandamus, which sought to order the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas to transfer the underlying actions to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.”

Zalzar FZE Fails to Boost Middle East Federal Contract Recovery – Daniel Seiden writes on BloombergLaw.com about Zalzar FZE v. Dir./Chief Exec. Officer of Army & Air Force Exchange Service, where the “Federal Circuit [affirmed an Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals’ decision] . . . [awarding] airfare costs.”

This morning the Federal Circuit issued a precedential opinion reversing the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in a patent case over a partial dissent by Judge Dyk. The court also issued a nonprecedential opinion affirming a decision by the United States Court of Federal Claims in a tax case. Here are the introductions to the opinions.

Here is an update on recent activity at the Supreme Court in cases decided by the Federal Circuit. Currently, with respect to the Supreme Court’s October 2021 term, the Court has not granted any petitions in cases decided by the Federal Circuit. As for pending petitions, since our last update one new petition was filed in a taking case asking questions concerning choice of law, the government submitted a waiver of right to respond in a Tucker Act case, and respondents filed response briefs in a patent case and a pro se case. Here are the details.