Guest Post by Blair E. Thompson
In 2020, the Federal Circuit addressed important questions regarding “pro-claimant” policies and rules governing the Department of Veterans Affairs. The court also approved VA’s interpretation of its regulation regarding discharges due to “willful and persistent misconduct” and paved the way for challenges to VA’s internal adjudication policies and procedures manual.
Guest post by Kevin B. Laurence and Matthew C. Phillips.
Stay jurisprudence from the Federal Circuit is a legacy of the Transitional Program for Covered Business Method (“CBM”) Review. Prior to the America Invents Act (AIA), the Federal Circuit rarely heard appeals related to stay motions because of the final-judgment rule.[1] However, under the CBM statute, a party to a CBM review was allowed to take an immediate interlocutory appeal from a district court’s decision regarding whether to stay an infringement case pending a CBM review.[2] The CBM statute was intended to increase the predictability of context-dependent stay decisions and to increase the grant rate of CBM-related stay motions. At the sunset of the eight-year CBM program on September 16, 2020, we reflect on the CBM stay jurisprudence developed around this statute.
On Friday the Solicitor General filed amicus briefs requested by the Supreme Court in two patent cases, Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. v. Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. and HP Inc. v. Berkheimer. In both cases, the Solicitor General recommended that the Court deny review. A closer examination of the briefs, however, shows the Solicitor General supporting a reexamination of substantive, if not not procedural, patent eligibility law, at least as expressed by the Supreme Court since Bilski v. Kappos in 2010, and in particular in the currently-pending case Athena Diagnostics, Inc. v. Mayo Collaborative Services, LLC.
I’m excited to introduce you to Fed Circuit Blog, a project of the Tsai Center for Law, Science and Innovation at the SMU Dedman School of Law. This blog provides comprehensive coverage of activities and news related to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
In several ways the Federal Circuit is a unique court. Given that it has exclusive jurisdiction over appeals in various types of federal cases, unless the Supreme Court reviews its opinions, these opinions govern nationwide.
The court’s exclusive jurisdiction includes appeals in patent cases. Given the impact of patents on the development and use of technology, the Federal Circuit holds an important place in the innovation ecosystem. As a result, Fed Circuit Blog will provide particular insight into the law governing patent cases and its impact on the innovation ecosystem. That said, Fed Circuit Blog will extend its coverage of the court to other areas of the court’s jurisdiction.
So exactly what information will Fed Circuit Blog provide?
