Opinions

Opinions & Orders – November 6, 2024

This morning the Federal Circuit released two nonprecedential opinions and three Rule 36 judgments. The first nonprecedential opinion affirms a dismissal for lack of jurisdiction by the Merit Systems Protection Board, while the second dismisses an appeal from the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for lack of jurisdiction. Here are the introductions to the opinions and links to the Rule 36 judgments.

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Opinions

Opinions & Orders – July 23, 2024

This morning the Federal Circuit released three nonprecedential opinions and ten nonprecedential orders. The first opinion affirms a judgment of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board; the second vacates and remands a judgment of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board; and the third reverses and remands another judgment of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. The first order denies petitions for writs of mandamus, while the second transfers an appeal to the Central District of California. All of the other orders are dismissals. Here are the introductions to the opinions and first two orders and links to the other orders.

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Opinions

Opinions & Orders – April 12, 2024

This morning, the Federal Circuit released one precedential opinion, one nonprecedential opinion, one precedential order, and three nonprecedential orders. The precedential opinion addresses an appeal from judgments arising out of a bench trial in the Western District of Louisiana in a patent case.  The nonprecedential opinion affirms a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board finding certain claims unpatentable for obviousness. The precedential order, which attracted amicus attention and a dissent joined by four judges, denies a sua sponte request for rehearing en banc. Two of the orders transfer cases, and one dismisses a set of appeals. Here are the introductions to the opinions, selected text from the precedential order and transfers, and link to the dismissal.

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Opinions

Opinions & Orders – March 11, 2024

This morning, the Federal Circuit released one nonprecedential opinion and five Rule 36 summary affirmances. The nonprecedential opinion addresses a pro se appeal from a judgment of the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Late Friday, the Federal Circuit also released one nonprecedential order dismissing an appeal. Here is the introduction to the opinion and links to the dismissal and summary affirmances.

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Opinions

Opinions & Orders – March 7, 2024

This morning, the Federal Circuit released one precedential opinion, two nonprecedential opinions, one dismissal, and two Rule 36 summary affirmances. The precedential opinion addresses an appeal from a judgement of the United States Court of International Trade. One of the nonprecedential opinions addresses an appeal from a judgment of the Merit Systems Protection Board, while the other addresses an appeal from a judgment of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Here are the introductions to the opinions and links to the dismissal and summary affirmances.

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News

Recent News on the Federal Circuit

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

  • an article about how the “Federal Circuit . . . backed a pair of Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions that said Netflix failed to prove that two streaming patents were invalid”; and
  • an article discussing how “Google waived its right to respond to a petition for writ of certiorari . . . filed by the inventors of a method for protecting computers from malware.”
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Opinions

Opinions & Orders – October 25, 2023

This morning, the Federal Circuit released one precedential opinion and four nonprecedential orders. The precedential opinion rejects the argument the Patent Trial and Appeal Board failed to address several arguments made in two inter partes review proceedings. The court found no error in the how the Board understood the arguments at issue, but in a dissenting opinion Judge Dyk disagrees with the court. Two of the four orders are dismissals, while the other two transfer cases—one to a circuit court of appeals and another to a district court. Here is the introduction to the precedential opinion, selected text from the transfers, and links to the dismissals.

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Opinions

Opinions & Orders – September 11, 2023

This morning, the Federal Circuit released two precedential opinions, one nonprecedential opinion, and one order dismissing an appeal. One precedential opinion addresses an appeal from a decision of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board finding claims unpatentable as obvious. This first opinion ultimately concludes that the decision violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The other precedential opinion also addresses an appeal of a decision of the PTAB, this one concluding that the PTAB abused its discretion in determining that a party failed to identify a field of endeavor and thus failed to establish analogous art for purposes of an obviousness analysis. Finally, the nonprecedential opinion affirms a dismissal by the United States Court of Federal Claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Here are the introductions to the opinions and a link to the dismissal.

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Opinions

Opinions & Orders – June 22, 2023

This morning, the Federal Circuit released two nonprecedential opinions in patent cases addressing, respectively, claim construction and definiteness. Here are the introductions to the opinions.

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Opinions

Opinions & Orders – April 27, 2023

This morning the Federal Circuit released three nonprecedential opinions. One comes in a patent case appealed from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, one in a patent case appealed from the International Trade Commission, and one in an employment case appealed from the Merit Systems Protection Board. Here are the introductions to the opinions.

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