FedCircuitBlog

Here is an update on recent en banc activity at the Federal Circuit. Highlights include the filing of the opening brief in National Organization of Veterans Advocates, Inc. v. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in which the Federal Circuit granted a petition for initial hearing en banc to address two questions related to jurisdiction and veterans law. As for petitions in patent cases, highlights include a new petition raising questions related to restriction requirements and patent term adjustments; a new response to a petition raising questions related to obviousness; a new invitation for a response to a petition raising questions related to injunctive relief; and the denial of three petitions raising questions related to claim construction, prevailing party status, and forum selection clauses. Here are the details.

Here is an update on recent en banc activity at the Federal Circuit. Highlights include new petitions filed in five cases raising questions related to claim construction, prevailing party status, assignor estoppel, forum selection clauses, and injunctive relief. In addition, a new amicus brief was filed in two cases raising questions related to patent eligibility. Here are the details.

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 patent cases in the “Other Cases” section of our blog. Today, with respect to these cases we highlight two dispositions, one new case, three recent oral arguments, and two upcoming oral arguments.

• USPTO Says AI Can’t be A Named Inventor – The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said that U.S. law bars artificial intelligence from being listed as an inventor.
• Federal Circuit Proposes Guideline Tweaks – The Federal Circuit proposed changes to its Rules of Practice.
• The Federal Circuit Explains when Winning Isn’t Prevailing – Daniel Shulman explains the results in two recent Federal Circuit decisions concerning “prevailing parties.”

Here’s the latest.

This morning the Federal Circuit issued two precedential opinions in patent cases and one nonprecedential erratum. Here are the introductions to the opinions and the text of the erratum.

As a reminder, once a month we provide an update on activity in patent cases pending before panels of the Federal Circuit where the cases involve at least one amicus brief. We keep track of these patent cases in the “Other Cases” section of our blog. (There we also highlight non-patent cases that attract amicus brief, but only once those cases have been scheduled for oral argument.) Today, with respect to these patent cases, we highlight one new opinion, briefing in five cases, and a recent oral argument.

Last week the Federal Circuit heard three cases that attracted amicus briefs. In the first of these three cases, Dragon Intellectual Property v. Dish Network LLC, Dish Network and Sirius XM Radio presented three questions to the court. As we noted in our argument preview, all three questions revolve around the district court’s finding that they were not prevailing parties and therefore not entitled to attorneys’ fees. The district court reached these conclusions after determining the case had become moot as a result of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s cancellation of the underlying patent-in-suit. On Tuesday, Dish Network and Sirius XM Radio, along with the appellee’s attorney (representing himself, his co-counsel, and his firm), presented their arguments to a panel that included Judges Lourie, Moore, and Stoll. This is our argument recap.

This week (and on Monday and Tuesday next week) the Federal Circuit will hold 17 panel hearings and hear oral arguments in about 53 cases. Amicus briefs were filed in three of these cases. The first is a patent case drawing attention because of a challenge to the district court’s prevailing party determination, a prerequisite for attorney fee awards. The second is a sister case to three cases argued at the Supreme Court last month, Maine, Moda, and Land of Lincoln. And the third case, which presents a challenge to the delegation of power to the President to impose tariffs on steel products, saw two amicus briefs supporting the challenger and two supporting the government.

Next week is argument week, and three cases slated to be argued attracted amicus briefs. The first is Dragon Intellectual Property v. Dish Network LLC, a patent case that drew interest from the Electronic Frontier Foundation on the issue of the district court’s prevailing party determination, a prerequisite for attorney fee awards. Here is our argument preview.

As a reminder, once a month we provide an update on activity in cases pending before panels of the Federal Circuit where the cases involve at least one amicus brief. Today with respect to these cases we highlight one opinion, briefing in six cases, a recent oral argument, and three upcoming oral arguments. (Note you can always find information related to these cases on our “Other Cases” page.) On to the update.