FedCircuitBlog

• The Upshot of Google v. Oracle: An Absurd Ruling Will Lead to Absurd Results – This recent decision in copyright law may transform how copyrights in software are viewed and force copyright owners to be more secretive with their code.
• Federal Circuit Appears Unswayed by Patent Board Bias Attack – In oral argument, a majority of the panel seemed skeptical of New Vision’s argument of bias towards institution of IPRs by the PTAB.
• Justices Asked To Revisit “Life Issues” In Tinder’s IP Alice Win – The Supreme Court was asked to reconsider the Federal Circuit’s decision in NetSoc LLC v. Match Group LLC over concerns of the application of Alice to NetSoc’s patent.

Here’s the latest.

Here is an update on recent activity at the Supreme Court in cases decided by the Federal Circuit.

• The Supreme Court rendered its decision in Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc., the long-running software copyright case.
• Three amicus briefs were filed in Minerva Surgical, Inc. v. Hologic, Inc., a case that has been granted certiorari.
• The Court received three new petitions for writ of certiorari.
• One new brief in opposition was filed with the Court in response to the petition in American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc. v. Neapco Holdings LLC.
• One new reply brief was filed with the Court in Ericsson Inc. v. TCL Communication Technology Holdings Limited.
• One new amicus brief was filed with the Court in Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative v. United States by Anthem, Inc., Blue Cross of Idaho Health Service, Inc., Highmark Inc., L.A. Care Health Plan, and Molina Healthcare of California, Inc.
• Lastly, the Court denied the petitions in three cases.

Here are the details.

On April 5, 2021, the Supreme Court rendered its decision in Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc., the long-running software copyright case. The Court sided with Google in a 6-2 opinion, holding that Google’s copying of the Java API code constituted fair use. Justice Breyer wrote the majority opinion for the Court and was joined by Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Sotomayor, Justice Kagan, Justice Kavanaugh, and Justice Gorsuch. Justice Thomas wrote a dissenting opinion and was joined by Justice Alito. Justice Barrett did not participate in the case. Here is a summary of the majority and dissenting opinions.

This morning the Supreme Court reversed the Federal Circuit’s finding of copyright fair use in Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc. Justice Breyer authored the Court’s majority opinion, which Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, Kavanaugh, and Gorsuch joined. Justice Thomas authored a dissenting opinion, which Justice Alito joined. Justice Barrett did not participate in the case. Here are the introductions to the majority and dissenting opinions.

Here is an update on recent activity at the Supreme Court in cases decided by the Federal Circuit.

• The Court received seven new amicus briefs in a case that has been granted certiorari, Minerva Surgical, Inc. v. Hologic, Inc.
• The Court received five new petitions for writ of certiorari.
• One new response brief was filed with the Court in Iancu v. Fall Line Patents, LLC.
• One new reply brief was filed with the Court in Argentum Pharmaceuticals LLC v. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.
• In petition cases, the Court received six new amicus briefs in American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc. v. Neapco Holdings LLC, two new amicus briefs in Amarin Pharma, Inc. v. Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., and one new amicus brief in Oracle America, Inc. v. United States.
• Lastly, the Court denied the petition for writ of certiorari in Christy, Inc. v. United States.

Here are the details.

Here is an update on recent activity at the Supreme Court in cases decided by the Federal Circuit.

• The Court received one new petition for writ of certiorari in Oracle America, Inc. v. United States.
• Two new amicus briefs were filed with the Court in American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc. v. Neapco Holdings LLC, the first by a group of patent practitioners in Chicago and the second by the New York Bar Association.
• One new waiver of right to respond was filed by Illumina in Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc. v. Illumina, Inc.

Here are the details.

Earlier this week, on October 7, 2020, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc., the long-running software copyright case. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this extended oral argument took place over the phone and lasted for over 90 minutes. The Court worked to great lengths to untangle the attorneys’ many vital arguments that have developed over the past decade. As we previewed the day before the argument, the issues, in this case, are the availability of copyright protection for software interfaces, in particular Oracle’s Java SE declarations, and Google’s copying of such code that it contends is fair use.

On October 7, 2020, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments from the attorneys for two leading technology giants in the long-running software copyright case, Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc. At issue is the availability of copyright protection for software interfaces, in particular Oracle’s Java SE declarations, and Google’s copying of such code that it contends is fair use.

• CBM Review: A Postmortem – The covered business method review, expiring on September 15th, has seen a rise and fall in popularity that can be attributed to the Federal Circuit.
• Oracle Loses JEDI Appeal – In Oracle America, Inc. v. United States, the Federal Circuit affirmed the decision to allow the Department of Defense to issue a $10 billion, 10-year cloud-computing contract to Microsoft.
• Federal Circuit Has Jurisdiction over Constitutional Questions in AIA Appeals – Affirming the decision of the lower court in Security People, Inc. v. Iancu, the Federal Circuit confirmed its ability to decide factual issues when necessary to resolve a constitutional challenge.

Here’s the latest.

This morning, the Federal Circuit issued one precedential opinion in a government contract case. The Federal Circuit also issued four nonprecedential opinions: one in a case appealed from the Merit Systems Protection Board, one in a patent case, one in a tax case, and one in a veterans case. Additionally, the Federal Circuit issued six Rule 36 judgments. Here are the introductions to the opinions and a list of the Rule 36 judgments.