FedCircuitBlog

Today, the Federal Circuit released one nonprecedential opinion and three nonprecedential orders. The opinion addresses an appeal from a grant of summary judgment in which a district court held that a patent was ineligible for patenting. Specifically, the district court found that the claims at issue simply sought to automate prior art methods to minimize human error and replaced the human operator with a conventional machine. Two of the orders released today transfer cases, and one dismisses an appeal. Late last Friday, the Federal Circuit also released a nonprecedential order dismissing an appeal. Here are the introductions to the opinion and transfers and links to the dismissals.

Today, the Federal Circuit released six nonprecedential orders: two order the transfer of cases to a district court, two grant motions for remand, one denies a motion to transfer to a district court, and one grants unopposed motions to voluntarily dismiss appeals. Here are the introductions to the orders and a link to the dismissal.

Here is an update on recent activity at the Supreme Court in cases decided by the Federal Circuit. With respect to granted cases, an opening merits brief and an amicus brief were submitted in Rudisill v. McDonough, a veterans case. Five new petitions were filed, one in a personnel case and four related to the same pro se case. Additionally, three briefs in opposition were filed, one in response to a petition raising a question related to the jurisdiction of the Court of International Trade and two in response to a petition raising a question related to patent eligibility. Finally, a reply in support of a petition was filed in a case addressing hazardous duty pay for federal employees. Here are the details.

Today, the Federal Circuit released two nonprecedential opinions and three nonprecedential orders. The first opinion comes in a patent case appealed from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and addresses obviousness. The second opinion comes in another patent case appealed from a district court and addresses several issues. Two of the orders dismiss appeals for failure to pay docketing fees and one dismisses for failure to file a brief within the permitted time. Here are the introductions to the opinions and links to the dismissals.

Here is a report on recent news and commentary related to the Federal Circuit and its cases. Today’s report highlights:

• an article discussing oral arguments at the Federal Circuit in three appeals between Masimo Corp. and Apple Inc. involving “a series of Patent Trial and Appeal Board rulings that inventions described in Masimo’s patents were obvious and therefore unpatentable”;
• an article about how LKQ Corp. v. GM Global Tech. Operations holds the potential to make changes to the longstanding test for design patent obviousness; and
• an article analyzing the potential impact of a former soldier’s argument that the “U.S. Supreme Court [should] reverse a Federal Circuit decision that he claimed wrongly reduced his access to increased benefits Congress granted to wartime veterans.”

This morning, the Federal Circuit released a nonprecedential opinion in a veterans case addressing a claim for a service-connected disability. Late yesterday and today, the court also released three nonprecedential orders dismissing appeals and a Rule 36 summary affirmance. Here is the introduction to the opinion and links to the dismissals and the summary affirmance.

This morning, the Federal Circuit released three nonprecedential opinions: one in a patent case reviewing inter partes review decisions, one in another patent case addressing subject-matter jurisdiction, and one in a case appealed from the Merit Systems Protection Board. Late yesterday, the court also released two nonprecedential orders dismissing appeals. Here are the introductions to the opinions and links to the orders.

This morning, the Federal Circuit released four opinions: a precedential opinion in a trade case addressing lack of jurisdiction, a precedential opinion in a veterans case addressing the Equal Access to Justice Act, another precedential opinion in a veterans case involving a dispute related to a transfer out of the Active Reserve Program and into the Individual Ready Reserve, and a precedential opinion in a veterans case addressing service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder. Late yesterday and this morning, the court also released three nonprecedential orders, two dismissing appeals and one erratum. Here are the introductions to the opinions and links to the dismissals and the erratum.

This morning, the Federal Circuit released a precedential opinion in a trade case holding that a failure to provide access to redacted information was a violation of due process. Late yesterday and this morning, the court also released four nonprecedential orders, one granting a motion to voluntarily dismiss a cross-appeal, one dismissing an appeal as untimely, and two dismissing appeals. Here is the introduction to the opinion, text from the grant of the motion to voluntarily dismiss and the dismissal for untimeliness, and links to the other dismissals.

This morning, the Federal Circuit released two opinions. Specifically, the court released a precedential opinion in a veterans case addressing whether the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims properly determined that no remand to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals was required when denying a plaintiff’s claim. The court also released a nonprecedential opinion in a pro se case in which the Court of Federal Claims dismissed a plaintiff’s case for failure to state a claim. Here are the introductions to the opinions.