FedCircuitBlog

Here is an update on recent en banc activity at the Federal Circuit. As for the only pending en banc case, which relates to the President’s Article II removal powers, since our last update the petitioner filed their reply brief. As for pending petitions for en banc rehearing, one new petition was filed in a pro se case raising questions about claim construction. The court also denied two petitions in cases that raised questions about appellate procedure and the enablement and written description requirements. Here are the details.

This morning, the Federal Circuit released one nonprecedential opinion and two nonprecedential orders. The opinion comes in a government contract case appealed from the Court of Federal Claims. As for today’s orders: one grants a petition for a writ of mandamus ordering transfer from the Western District of Texas to the Northern District of California, while the other dismisses an appeal from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Here are the introductions to the opinion and mandamus order, as well as a link to the dismissal.

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 opinions: one in a patent case addressing obviousness, one in a case addressing veterans law, and two addressing bilateral tax treaties. We also identify two new patent cases, both raising questions of claim construction. We also highlight one response brief in a patent case that raises questions related to infringement and injunctive relief; two reply briefs in cases that raise questions related to copyright law and inter partes review proceedings; and five new amicus briefs in a patent case that raises questions related to infringement and injunctive relief. We also highlight two recent oral arguments in cases that raised questions related to takings under state law and inter partes review proceedings. Here are the details.

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 petitions, since our last update, two new petitions were filed in a case raising a question related to appellate procedure and a pro se case; four waivers of the right to respond to petitions were filed in four pro se cases; two briefs in opposition were filed in patent cases raising questions related to inter partes review proceedings; one reply brief in support of a petition was filed in another patent case raising questions related to inter partes review proceedings; one supplemental brief was filed in a pro se case; and one amicus brief was filed in another patent case raising questions related to eligibility. Here are the details.

Here is a report on recent news and commentary related to the Federal Circuit and its cases. Today we highlight:

• an article discussing how the Federal Circuit recently issued an opinion “affirming a ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California that granted Google LLC and YouTube LLC judgment on the pleadings on patent ineligibility grounds”;
• an article reporting how the Federal Circuit recently held that the “Patent Trial and Appeal Board was right to fully invalidate a speech recognition patent that Apple stands accused of infringing”;
• an article noting how the Federal Circuit dismissed an appeal because “the 30-day deadline of 28 U.S.C. § 2107(a) for filing a notice of appeal is ‘mandatory and jurisdictional’ with no equitable exceptions”; and
• an article highlighting how the Federal Circuit recently “reversed the Merit Systems Protection Board’s dismissal” of a Presidential Innovation Fellow’s “whistleblower appeal . . . , finding he had made sufficient allegations of gross mismanagement to establish jurisdiction.”

This morning, the Federal Circuit released two nonprecedential opinions. Both come in patent cases, one appealed from the Northern District of California and one appealed from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Here are the introductions to the opinions.

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, three new petitions were filed in two patent cases and a pro se case, and two briefs in opposition were filed in a government contract case and a patent case. Here are the details.

Here is a report on recent news and commentary related to the Federal Circuit and its cases. Today we highlight:

• an article how an inventor “is asking the Supreme Court to take up his case, not to overturn Alice, but to clarify how courts should apply it”;
• an article noting how “Former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was among a group of nearly 50 economists” telling the Federal Circuit “that President Donald Trump improperly used a ‘balance-of-payments’ provision to justify a round of global tariffs earlier this year”;
• an article reporting the Merit Systems Protection Board “has finalized rules ending standards it has used since the early 1980s to weigh the appropriateness of a penalty—often firing—in appeals by federal employees of disciplinary actions for alleged misconduct”; and
• an article describing how “[c]ourts are testing the boundaries of” Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo “on federal regulatory authority,” saying it “left open a path for judges to defer to executive branch agencies in certain circumstances.”

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.

Here is a report on recent news and commentary related to the Federal Circuit and its cases. Today we highlight:

• a piece arguing the Federal Circuit’s 2026 docket reveals a “recurring concern” with threshold questions of “standing, jurisdiction, reviewability, finality and adjudicative authority” that cut across substantive fields;
• an article reporting on a new petition for writ of certiorari arguing the Federal Circuit has effectively collapsed the Supreme Court’s two-step eligibility framework into “a single inquiry”; and
• a commentary explaining how a recent Federal Circuit decision sharpened the “skilled searcher” standard for determining what prior art grounds a petitioner “reasonably could have raised” under the statutory inter partes review estoppel provision.