FedCircuitBlog

This morning, the Federal Circuit released one precedential opinion, three nonprecedential opinions, six nonprecedential orders, and one Rule 36 judgment. The precedential opinion comes in an appeal from a decision of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. One of the nonprecedential opinions comes in a pro se appeal of a decision by the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, while the other two come in appeals of decisions of the Merit Systems Protection Board. Three of the nonprecedential orders dismiss appeals, two transfer cases to other courts, and the final order denies a motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis. Here are introductions to the opinions and orders other than the dismissals, along with links to the dismissals and Rule 36 judgment.

This morning, the Federal Circuit released two precedential opinions, four nonprecedential opinions, seven nonprecedential orders, and four Rule 36 judgments. One of the precedential opinions comes in an appeal from a decision of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and discusses the role of the doctrine of foreign equivalents in translating a mark in a foreign language. The other precedential opinion comes in an appeal from a decision of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Two of the nonprecedential opinions come in pro se appeals of decisions of the Court of Federal Claims, one of the other nonprecedential opinions comes in a pro se appeal in a patent infringement case, and the last nonprecedential opinion comes in a pro se appeal of a decision of the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Five of the orders deny petitions for writs of mandamus, while the other two dismiss appeals. Here are the introductions to the opinions and orders denying petitions, along with links to dismissals and Rule 36 judgments.

This morning, the Federal Circuit released one precedential opinion, six nonprecedential opinions, two nonprecedential orders, and three Rule 36 judgments. The precedential opinion comes in a patent case covering trade secret misappropriation and correction of inventorship. Two of the nonprecedential opinions come in patent cases, one in an appeal from the Court of Federal Claims, two in pro se appeals of decisions of the Merit Systems Protection Board, and one in a pro se appeal of a decision of the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. One of the orders denies a petition for a writ of mandamus, and the other dismisses an appeal. Here are the introductions to the opinions and the order denying the petition, along with links to the other orders and the Rule 36 judgments.

Here is an update on recent activity at the Supreme Court in cases decided by the Federal Circuit. Since our last update, there has been no new activity at the Supreme Court in the only pending case decided by the Federal Circuit. As for pending petitions, new petitions were filed in a case addressing jurisdiction, a veterans case, and a pro se case; a waiver of the right to respond to a petition was filed in the case addressing jurisdiction; a brief in opposition was filed in a trademark case; a reply brief was filed in a patent case; and two amicus briefs were filed in another veterans case. Finally, the Court denied three petitions, one in a patent case, one in a trademark case, and on in a case addressing Federal Circuit Rule 36. Here are the details.

Late yesterday, the Federal Circuit released two nonprecedential orders, one dismissing an appeal. The other order granted a motion to vacate a judgment of the Court of International Trade. This morning, the Federal Circuit released one precedential opinion, three nonprecedential opinions, one nonprecedential order dismissing an appeal, and three Rule 36 judgments. The precedential opinion comes in a pro se appeal from the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. All three nonprecedential opinions also come in pro se appeals, one from the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and two from the Merit Systems Protection Board. Here are the introductions to the opinions and links to the orders and Rule 36 judgments.

This morning, the Federal Circuit released one precedential opinion and five nonprecedential opinions. The precedential opinion comes in a patent case appealed from the Eastern District of Texas. Four of the nonprecedential opinions come in pro se appeals, two of decisions of the Merit Systems Protection Board and two of decisions of the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. The fifth nonprecedential opinion comes in an appeal from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Here are the introductions to the opinions.

This morning, the Federal Circuit released one precedential opinion, one nonprecedential opinion, and one nonprecedential order. The precedential opinion comes in an appeal of a decision affirming the unpatentability of patent claims as either anticipated or obvious issued by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. The nonprecedential opinion comes in a pro se appeal of a decision issued by the Merit Systems Protection Board. The nonprecedential order is a dismissal. Here are the introductions to the opinions and a link to the dismissal.

This week is Court Week at the Federal Circuit. The court will convene 12 panels to consider 71 cases. Of the 71 cases, the court will hear oral argument in 46. The Federal Circuit provides access to live audio of these arguments via the Federal Circuit’s YouTube channel. This month, three cases scheduled for oral argument attracted amicus briefs. Here’s what you need to know about these three cases.

As we’ve been reporting, three cases being argued at the Federal Circuit in December attracted amicus briefs. One of these cases, Hamill v. Collins, is a veterans case. In it, Hamill appeals a dismissal by the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims of his mandamus petition. He urged that court to order the Department of Veterans Affairs to issue an appealable decision readjudicating the character of his discharge, and to certify a class of veterans who received other than honorable discharges and then applied for benefits but received decisions that adjudicated only healthcare eligibility, not including readjudication of the character of their discharges. The lower court dismissed his petition as moot because Hamill received a determination from VA that he had not submitted new and material evidence related to the character of his discharge. This is our argument preview.

Late yesterday, the Federal Circuit released a nonprecedential order dismissing an appeal. This morning, the Federal Circuit released one precedential opinion and two nonprecedential opinions. The precedential opinion comes in an appeal of a decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board. One of the nonprecedential opinions also comes in an appeal of a decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board, while the other comes in a pro se appeal of a decision of the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Here are the introductions to the opinions and a link to the dismissal.