FedCircuitBlog

Here is an update on recent activity at the Supreme Court in cases decided by the Federal Circuit. With respect to granted cases, a merits brief and an amicus brief were filed in Vidal v. Elster, a trademark case concerning the First Amendment. With respect to petitions, three new petitions were filed with the Court in two patent cases addressing eligibility and prosecution laches respectively and in a takings case. Additionally, waivers of right to respond were filed in the patent case addressing prosecution laches and in a pro se case, and a supplemental brief was filed with the Court in a patent case addressing eligibility. Finally, three amicus briefs were filed in a patent case addressing judicial review of determinations whether to institute inter partes review proceedings. Here are the details.

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

• an article discussing a new report on Federal Circuit Judge Newman’s health;
• another article highlighting a Supreme Court petition urging review of the Federal Circuit’s decision in Personalized Media Communications v. Apple; and
• a third article about a recent decision from the Federal Circuit “affirm[ing] a Texas federal judge’s decision canceling patent claims” asserted “in lawsuits targeting dating app maker Bumble Trading LLC and several other tech firms.”

Here is an update on recent en banc activity at the Federal Circuit in patent cases. Highlights include a new petition filed in a case raising a question about what constitutes a final judgment for purposes of appellate jurisdiction, three new responses to petitions related to eligibility and design patent’s non-obviousness requirement, and two amicus briefs also related to design patent’s non-obviousness requirement. The court also denied two petitions raising questions about eligibility and infringement. Here are the details.

Here is an update on recent en banc activity at the Federal Circuit in patent cases. The court received a response to a petition raising questions related to prosecution laches, invited a response to a petition raising questions related to patent eligibility, and received three amicus briefs supporting rehearing in two cases raising the same questions related to non-obviousness of designs under design patent law. Here are the details.

Here is the first of two updates this week 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 cases in the “Other Cases” section of our blog. Today, with respect to these cases we highlight a new patent case in which the court, due to a motion to expedite, heard oral argument recently. Additionally, we highlight new briefings in two patent cases as well as four recent opinions. Here are the details.

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

• an article about the Supreme Court “declin[ing] to consider an . . . argument that a ‘dangerous’ precedent will give big tech defendants a license to build inaccurate models of technology that can be used to wipe out patents asserted against them”;
• another article about a case involving the overturning of “a $308.5 million patent verdict against Apple”; and
• a third article explaining that “[a] potential import ban on the Apple Watch is still on the table.”

Here is an update on recent en banc activity at the Federal Circuit in patent cases. The court received a petition raising questions related to claim construction and another petition raising questions related to prosecution laches, and the court also invited a response to the same petition raising questions related to prosecution laches. Here are the details.

Late last month, the Federal Circuit issued its opinion in Personalized Media Communications, LLC v. Apple, Inc., a case we have been following because it attracted an amicus brief. In this patent case, Personalized Media Communications challenged a district court’s decision to overturn a jury verdict based on the equitable doctrine of prosecution latches. In an opinion authored by Judge Reyna and joined by Judges Chen and Stark, the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s ruling.

This morning the Federal Circuit released one precedential opinion and two nonprecedential opinions. The precedential opinion comes in a patent case appealed from the Eastern District of Texas. In it, the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s determination that a patent is unenforceable based on prosecution laches. Notably, Judge Stark filed a dissenting opinion. The two nonprecedential opinions come in separate patent cases appealed from the Patent Trial and Appeal, both involving the same parties. In each opinion, Judge Lourie filed additional views and Judge Stark filed a concurring opinion, both addressing the argument the Supreme Court overruled the Federal Circuit’s approach to obviousness with respect to design patents. Late yesterday and this morning, the Federal Circuit also released six nonprecedential orders dismissing appeals. Here are the introductions to the opinions and links to the dismissals.

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 cases in the “Other Cases” section of our blog. Today, with respect to these cases we highlight an opinion in a patent case addressing the denial of a motion for a preliminary injunction seeking to enjoin the International Trade Commission, a new patent case appealed from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and two oral argument recaps in a veterans case and a patent case concerning prosecution laches. Here are the details.