FedCircuitBlog

The Federal Circuit issued nine opinions and orders this morning:

• The court issued a precedential opinion in a veterans law case, affirming the upholding of a denial of an earlier effecting date for a service-connected disability over a dissent by Judge Newman.
• The court issued two orders and a precedential opinion in another veterans law case on remand from the Supreme Court. The first order granted panel rehearing, the panel withdrew and replaced its original opinion with a new precedential opinion, and the second order denied rehearing en banc. The new panel opinion declined to apply Auer deference to a Department of Veterans Affairs regulation and affirmed a decision of the Veterans Court, which in turn had affirmed a decision by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals denying an earlier effective date for a service-connected disability. Judge Reyna dissented. Notably, the order denying rehearing en banc elicited five separate concurring and dissenting opinions.
• The court issued a related nonprecedential order and precedential opinion in a trade case. The order unsealed the opinion, which affirmed the Court of International Trade’s decision to affirm the Department of Commerce’s antidumping duty order covering carbon and certain alloy steel wire rod from Mexico.
• The court issued two nonprecedential opinions affirming the Court of Federal Claims in two government contract appeals involving the same parties.
• The court issued a Rule 36 summary affirmance in case appealed from the Northern District of California.

Here are the introductions to the opinions, text from the orders, and a link to the Rule 36 judgment.

• Lin Names Sebela Ireland Ltd. v. Prinston Pharmaceutical Inc. as the Case of the Week – In his weekly summary of Federal Circuit activity, Eric Lin named Sebela Ireland Ltd. v. Prinston Pharmaceutical Inc. as his case of the week.
• Spotlight on Upcoming Oral Arguments – May 2021 – Kaitlyn Pehrson summarizes upcoming oral arguments that will occur in the first week of May.
• Welcome To The Next Era of The Federal Circuit – Dani Kass provides an informative overview of how the makeup of the Federal Circuit will change in the near future.

Here’s the latest.

This morning, the Federal Circuit issued six nonprecedential opinions: four in patent cases, one in a tax case affirming a dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and one in a veterans case. Additionally, the court issued two Rule 36 judgments. Here are the introductions to the opinions and links to the Rule 36 judgments.

This morning, the Federal Circuit released a nonprecedential order in a patent case denying a petition for a writ of mandamus seeking to order the Western District of Texas both to rule on a pending motion to transfer and to stay all other proceedings until that motion is resolved. The Federal Circuit also released five Rule 36 judgments. Here is text from the order and links to the Rule 36 judgments.

• Supreme Court Backs Google in Copyright Fight With Oracle – A 6-2 ruling ended the decade-long copyright dispute between Google and Oracle over Google’s use of Java programming code in its Android operating system.
• Apple Can’t Appeal Patent Board Rulings After Qualcomm Deal – In a precedential decision, the Federal Circuit ruled that a settlement agreement between Apple and Qualcomm bars Apple from challenging a PTAB decision that upheld two Qualcomm patents.
• Fitbit Wins Challenge to Health Technology Patent at Tribunal – On remand from the Federal Circuit, the Patent Trial and Appel Board ruled in favor of Fitbit and concluded that parts of a health-monitoring patent were invalid as obvious.  

Here’s the latest.

This morning, the Federal Circuit issued four nonprecedential opinions: two in veterans cases both dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, one in a patent case, and one in a case appealed from the Merit Systems Protection Board. The court also issued four Rule 36 judgments. Here are the introductions to the opinions and links to the Rule 36 judgments.

This morning, the Federal Circuit released a precedential opinion dismissing an appeal from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board for a lack of standing. The court also released a nonprecedential opinion in a case appealed from the Merit Systems Protection Board as well as a Rule 36 judgment. Here are the introductions to the opinions and a link to the Rule 36 judgment.

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 two dispositions, one new case with an amicus brief, one case with new briefing, one case update, three recent oral arguments, and two upcoming oral arguments. Here are the details.

This morning, the Federal Circuit issued a precedential opinion in a case involving an appeal from the Merit Systems Protection Board and a precedential opinion in a patent case addressing eligible subject matter. Additionally, the court issued three nonprecedential opinions: two in patent cases and one in a government contract case involving a bid protest. Finally, the court issued two Rule 36 judgments. Here are the introductions to the opinions and the links to the Rule 36 judgments.

• U.S. v. Arthrex: Is Historical Practice of the USPTO Relevant? – One factor that the Supreme Court may consider in determining the appropriate remedy if necessary for the appointment of administrative patent judges is the historical practice of the USPTO.
• Apple Faces Dubious Federal Circuit on Patent Ownership Argument – Judges Chen and Linn of the Federal Circuit seemed to doubt the interpretation of the contract language that Apple is relying on to challenge Omni MedSci’s ownership of the allegedly infringed patents.
• Federal Circuit on TM Licensing: We’re Going to Enforce the Terms – The Federal Circuit held that the Army properly refused Authentic Apparel’s proposal to make certain Army-branded items, including the expansion of a clothing line featuring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

Here’s the latest.