FedCircuitBlog

Late yesterday, the Federal Circuit released a nonpreceential order dismissing an appeal in a patent case. This morning, the Federal Circuit released one precedential opinion affirming a decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board and one nonprecedential opinion vacating and remanding a decision of the Trademark trial and Appeal Board. The Federal Circuit also released three nonprecedential orders. One transfers a case, and one dismisses an appeal. Notably, in the third order, the Federal Circuit adopted a briefing schedule and set oral argument for July 31 in the case challenging President Trump’s tariffs. Here are the introductions to the opinions and the order in the tariff case and links to the transfer and dismissals.

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

• a report covering how the Federal Circuit “agreed on Tuesday to allow President Trump to maintain many of his tariffs on China and other U.S. trading partners, extending a pause granted shortly after another panel of judges ruled in late May that the import taxes were illegal”;
• an article describing how “President Donald Trump on Wednesday hailed a favorable decision by [the Federal Circuit] over his sweeping tariff policy as a ‘great’ win for the United States”;
• a piece addressing how “[t]he typically apolitical and staid US Patent and Trademark Office has been swept up in the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape the federal workforce”;
• a blog post discussing how “[t]he Trump Administration’s nominee for U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director, John Squires, has submitted written responses for the record following his May 21 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee”; and
• an article highlighting how “[t]he acting U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director’s decision on Friday to reject patent challenges due to the petitioner’s longstanding knowledge of a patent has many attorneys bracing for either a massive rise or dip in Patent Trial and Appeal Board filings.”

Late yesterday, the Federal Circuit issued an en banc nonprecedential order granting the motions filed by the United States for stays of the judgments and permanent injunctions entered by the Court of International Trade against President Trump’s Executive Orders imposing various tariffs. The court concluded that “a stay is warranted under the circumstances,” and that “these cases present issues of exceptional importance warranting expedited en banc consideration of the merits in the first instance.” Here is the full text of the order.

Here is an update on recent en banc activity at the Federal Circuit in patent cases. Since our last update, the Federal Circuit heard oral argument in an en banc government contract case. The Federal Circuit also received two amicus briefs and the government’s reply brief in President Trump’s pending case involving tariffs, in which the en banc court granted an immediate administrative stay of the judgments and permanent injunctions entered by the Court of International Trade. As for petitions, the court received an amicus brief in a case with a petition raising questions related to interpretation of the statute defining the power of the International Trade Commission. The Federal Circuit also denied a petition in 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 describing how the Federal Circuit “temporarily reinstated the most sweeping of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Thursday, a day after a U.S. trade court ruled that Trump had exceeded his authority in imposing the duties and ordered an immediate block on them;”
• another article similarly addressing how the Federal Circuit “temporarily agreed to preserve many of President Trump’s sweeping tariffs on China and other U.S. trading partners”;
• a report outlining how “[t]hree appeals in federal patent-infringement lawsuits center on the legality of an East Texas judge’s unconventional choice to have juries answer a single yes-or-no question on whether defendants copied multiple patents rather than deciding separately whether each individual patent was infringed”; and
• a piece examining the “intellectual property-related provisions” in “the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act,’” which passed the House of Representatives on May 22.

Here is an update on recent en banc activity at the Federal Circuit in patent cases. Since our last update, the en banc court issued an order granting an immediate administrative stay of judgments and permanent injunctions. As for the two pending en banc cases, the court will hear oral argument next week in one, a government contract case, and the court received an amicus brief in the other, which raises questions related to statutory interpretation and agency deference. As for pending petitions, since our last update the court received five new petitions, three in patent cases, one in a case raising questions related to statutory interpretation, and one in a pro se case. In addition, a response has been filed to a petition in a patent case raising a question related to collateral estoppel. The court also denied two petitions for en banc rehearing in a patent case and a pro se case. Here are the details.

Late today the Federal Circuit issued an order granting an immediate administrative stay of the judgments and permanent injunctions entered by the Court of International Trade against President Trump’s Executive orders imposing various tariffs. The order indicates the stay will remain in force until the Court of International Trade itself stays the injunctions or the Federal Circuit rules on the government’s motions to stay. Notably, the order, while issued per curiam, indicates all eleven of the court’s active judges (other than Judge Newman) agreed to grant the administrative stay. Here is the full text of the order.