FedCircuitBlog

Here is a report on recent news and commentary related to the Federal Circuit and its cases. Today we highlight:

• an article covering how Judge Albright of the Western District of Texas recently urged Congress to “fix Section 101” before a “tsunami” of artificial intelligence cases raise difficult questions related to patent eligibility;
• an article reporting how “[g]overnment lawyers said a Court of International Trade judge overstepped his authority by ordering the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to issue refunds to all companies that paid tariffs that were deemed illegal in February, even those that didn’t file a lawsuit in trade court”;
• an article discussing how last week the Federal Circuit “declined to reconsider its test for determining when a design patent is infringed, months after the court’s chief judge harshly criticized the current standard in a case involving body massage tools”; and
• a blog post highlighting how the USPTO “published a Federal Register Notice Tuesday announcing administrative updates to the General Requirements Bulletin.”

Late Friday, the Federal Circuit released two nonprecedential orders. One order dismissed an appeal and the other dismissed a petition. This morning, the Federal Circuit released one errata and one nonprecedential order. The nonprecedential order dismissed an appeal. Here are the links to the errata and the dismissals.

This morning the Federal Circuit granted a petition for en banc rehearing and issued a modified opinion in Brimer v. Department of the Navy. Notably, Part I of the modified opinion is joined by all eleven of the active judges participating in the case. In that part, the court overrules its precedent and holds that a statutory provision granting veterans’ preference rights is applicable to veterans currently employed by the federal government. Here are the details.

Late yesterday, the Federal Circuit released two nonprecedential orders dismissing petitions. This morning, the Federal Circuit released two precedential opinions, two nonprecedential opinions, and one nonprecedential order. One of the precedential opinions comes in a response to a petition seeking to have the en banc court reconsider a panel’s review of a decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board. Today’s nonprecedential order explains that the en banc court granted rehearing in response to the petition and the withdrew and replaced the panel’s opinion with a modified opinion that includes one part that is joined by all of the active judges that participated in the vote on rehearing. The other precedential opinion comes in a patent case appealed from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. One of the nonprecedential opinions comes in a case appealed from the Court of Federal Claims, and the other comes in a patent case appealed from the Western District of Pennsylvania. Here are the introductions to the opinions and today’s order as well as links to the dismissals.

This morning, the Federal Circuit released a nonprecedential order summarily affirming a judgment of the Court of Federal Claims. Here is the introduction to the order.

Today the Federal Circuit released five nonprecedential orders and one errata. One of the orders comes in a patent case decided by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and it grants motions to dismissal the appeal as moot and also vacates the PTAB’s final written decision. Another order comes in a veterans case, and it dismisses an appeal and denies a petition. The third order grants an unopposed motion by the Merit Systems Protection Board to remand a case. The other two orders are dismissals. Here are the introductions to the first three orders as well as links to the errata and dismissals.

Today the Federal Circuit released two precedential opinions, a precedential order, and two nonprecedential orders dismissing cases. Both of the precedential opinions come in trade cases, and in both cases the court affirms the judgment of the Court of International Trade. In the precedential order, the Federal Circuit denies panel and en banc rehearing in a design patent cases. Notably, Judge Cunningham joined by Judge Hughes released an opinion concurring in the denial of the petition for rehearing en banc , while Chief Judge Moore joined by Judge Reyna released an opinion dissenting from the denial of the petition for rehearing en banc. Here are the introductions to the opinions and links to the dismissals.

Here is an update on recent activity at the Supreme Court in cases decided by the Federal Circuit. There are currently no pending cases previously decided by the Federal Circuit. As for pending petitions, since our last update, two new petitions were filed in a patent case and a pro se case, and a waiver of the right to respond to a petition was filed in another pro se case Here are the details.

Today the Federal Circuit released three precedential opinions, two nonprecedential opinions, and a nonprecedential order. One of the precedential opinions comes in a veterans case appealed from the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, one comes in a patent case appealed from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and one comes in a vaccine case appealed from the Court of Federal Claims. Both of the nonprecedential opinions come in patent cases, one appealed from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and the other from a district court. The order is a dismissal. Here are the introductions to the opinions and a link to the dismissal.

Today the Federal Circuit released two precedential opinions and two nonprecedential opinions. The precedential opinions come in veterans and trade cases, while the nonprecedential opinions come in patent and veterans cases. Here are the introductions to the opinions.