Opinions

Opinions & Orders – September 14, 2026

Late Friday afternoon, the Federal Circuit released a nonprecedential order dismissing an appeal. This morning, the court released two precedential opinions and six nonprecedential opinions. Both precedential opinions come in patent cases, one appealed from the Eastern District of Texas and one appealed from the District of Delaware. As for the nonprecedential opinions, two come in veterans cases appealed from the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims; two come in cases appealed from the Court of Federal Claims, which dismissed the cases for lack of jurisdiction; one comes in a patent case appealed from the Western District of Texas; and one comes in a federal employment case. Here are the introductions to the opinions as well as a link to the dismissal.

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Opinions

Opinions & Orders – September 11, 2026

Late yesterday, the Federal Circuit released a nonprecedential order dismissing an appeal. This morning, the court released one precedential opinion, four nonprecedential opinions, and three Rule 36 summary affirmances. The precedential opinion comes in a patent case appealed from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. One of the nonprecedential opinions comes in another patent case appealed from the District of Delaware. Notably, Judge Subramanian, sitting by designation, dissented. Another of the nonprecedential opinions comes in an appeal from the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims; one comes in an appeal from the Court of Federal Claims; and one comes in an appeal from the Merit Systems Protection Board. Here are the introductions to the opinions along with links to the orders.

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Opinions

Opinions & Orders – September 10, 2026

This morning, the Federal Circuit released one precedential opinion, four nonprecedential opinions, and one Rule 36 summary affirmance. The precedential opinion comes in a trade secret case appealed from the Eastern District of Michigan. Two of the nonprecedential opinions come in cases involving the Merit Systems Protection Board, one comes in a patent case appealed from the Eastern District of Virginia, and the other comes in a veterans case appealed from the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Here are the introductions to the opinions as well as a link to the summary affirmance.

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Featured / Petitions / Supreme Court Activity

Recent Supreme Court Activity

Here is an update on recent activity at the Supreme Court in cases decided by the Federal Circuit. There are currently no cases pending before the Supreme Court that were previously decided by the Federal Circuit. As for pending petitions, since our last update, two new petitions were filed in a veterans case and a pro se case; three waivers of the right to respond to petitions were filed in pro se cases; and a reply brief in support of a petition was filed in an Indian Tucker Act case. Here are the details.

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Opinions

Opinions & Orders – September 8, 2026

This morning, the Federal Circuit released one precedential opinion, one nonprecedential opinion, and one errata. The precedential opinion comes in a veterans case appealed from the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. The nonprecedential opinion comes in a patent case appealed from the Northern District of California. Here are the introductions to the opinions and a link to the errata.

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Featured / Panel Activity

Update on Important Panel Activity

Here is an update on activity in cases pending before panels of the Federal Circuit where the cases have attracted 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 four recent opinions: one addressing injunctive relief, two addressing bilateral tax treaties and their relation to net investment income tax, and one addressing educational benefits for veterans. We also identify two new cases: one raising questions related to injunctive relief, and one raising questions related to the domestic-industry requirement. We highlight two response briefs in cases that raised questions related to inter partes reviews and obviousness; two reply briefs in cases that raise questions related remedies against the United States and copyright law; and one intervenor brief in a case that raises questions related to the ability to appeal denial of institution of inter partes review. Here are the details.

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Opinions

Opinions & Orders – September 3, 2026

This morning, the Federal Circuit released one precedential and one nonprecedential opinion. The precedential opinion comes in a veterans case appealed from the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. The nonprecedential opinion comes in a patent case appealed from the Eastern District of New York. Here are the introductions to the opinions.

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Opinions

Opinions & Orders – August 27, 2026

Late yesterday, the Federal Circuit released four nonprecedential orders dismissing appeals. This morning, the court released three nonprecedential opinions and four nonprecedential orders. Two of the opinions come in related patent cases appealed from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board involving the same parties, Apple Inc. and Smart Mobile Technologies LLC. The other opinion comes in a veterans case appealed from the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. As for today’s orders, one dismisses an appeal from the Court of Federal Claims for lack of jurisdiction, one remands a patent case from the District of Delaware following the parties’ settlement, one dismisses appeals from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board by agreement of the parties, and one transfers a Merit Systems Protection Board petition to the Eastern District of Arkansas. Here are the introductions to the opinions as well as links to the orders.

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Featured / Petitions / Supreme Court Activity

Recent Supreme Court Activity

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; four waivers of the right to respond to petitions were filed in two patent cases and a pro se case; and one brief in opposition was filed in an Indian Tucker Act case. Here are the details.

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Opinions

Opinions & Orders – August 26, 2026

This morning, the Federal Circuit released two nonprecedential opinions and four nonprecedential orders. One of the nonprecedential opinions comes in a trade case appealed from the Court of International Trade involving the scope of an antidumping duty order on certain artist canvas from China. The other nonprecedential opinion comes in a patent case appealed from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Two of the nonprecedential orders summarily affirm judgments of the Court of Federal Claims—one in a case involving tort claims dismissed for lack of jurisdiction and another in a case involving mortgage-related claims barred under 28 U.S.C. § 1500. The third order dismisses a veterans case as untimely. Finally, the fourth order grants a joint stipulation to voluntarily dismiss a patent case appealed from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Here are the introductions to the opinions and orders.

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