The U.S. Supreme Court has once again been urged to revisit 35 U.S.C. § 101, the statute governing patent eligibility. Audio Evolution Diagnostics, Inc. (AED) filed a petition for writ of certiorari, challenging the Federal...more
In a litigator’s nightmare, when old wooden floors creak and the house speaks in sinister tones to its owner, it’s not: “Get Out!” that the lawyer hears. It’s: “Your Responses to the Admissions are Late.” Such is the life. ...more
Those that regularly practice before the Court know about Rule 36s. We’ve written about them before. It’s a one-line per curiam decision that generally comes a few days after oral argument...more
We’ve been updating our stats pretty frequently but haven’t had a recent post about what—if anything—has changed in affirmance rates as more data has been compiled. So with basically 2½ years of data, I thought we could look...more
Last year, the continued global COVID-19 pandemic forced American courts to largely continue the procedures set in place in 2020. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit was no exception. It briefly returned to live...more
[co-author: Jamie Dohopolski] Last year, the continued global COVID-19 pandemic forced American courts to largely continue the procedures set in place in 2020. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit was no...more
Fall colors are on full display in DC. But leaf peeping can’t keep us from following the latest news at the Federal Circuit. Below we provide our usual weekly statistics and our case of the week—our highly subjective...more
The Federal Circuit returned to a full week of in-person arguments last week. But that didn’t keep it from issuing a range of decisions in patent and non-patent cases. Below we provide our usual weekly statistics and our...more
The Federal Circuit announced last week that it will resume in-person oral arguments later this summer. The Court’s new protocols generally take effect with the September 2021 sitting, and we noticed that the Court has also...more
If last week’s post on prosecution disclaimer left you hoping for more decisions about the patent application process, you're in luck. This week we're covering another case about patent prosecution and the somewhat rare...more
The Federal Circuit had a busy week, issuing 18 opinions—8 of them precedential. One of those cases put a new spin on two PTAB-related issues we’ve covered extensively on this blog: Arthrex (which held PTAB judges were...more
Last week was Court week, so it was busy in the Federal Circuit with telephonic oral arguments. Despite all the activity, the Court still issued a dozen opinions, including two precedential ones. For our case of the week, we...more
As many of you probably saw, Chief Judge Prost’s tenure as Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit is coming to a close, with Judge Moore set to become the new Chief Judge on May 22. But the upcoming transition doesn’t seem to...more
It has been a little while since we took a look at what—from a statistics standpoint—went down at recent oral arguments. Since the Federal Circuit went remote, there was an initial wave of a high percentage of appeals that...more
It was a busy week for the Federal Circuit, with a total of 18 new opinions, including a precedential opinion on enablement in the context of § 103 obviousness references. Below we provide our usual weekly statistics and our...more
Last week was argument week, which sometimes means lots of Rule 36 affirmances and not a lot of precedential opinions. Still, that didn’t stop the Court from issuing an interesting, and relatively rare, precedential decision...more
Last week was argument week, and the Federal Circuit previewed its new YouTube channel for streaming live arguments (sadly, audio only for now). Still, that didn’t slow the Federal Circuit down in issuing opinions, including...more
On February 11, 2021, Amarin Pharma, Inc. (“Amarin”) filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court seeking reversal of the Federal Circuit’s decision to affirm a finding that Amarin’s patents are invalid as...more
Did you remember to send your favorite examiner a Valentine’s Day card? Okay, so maybe that’s not the typical applicant/examiner relationship. But this week we do look at some potential consequences from the back and forth...more
Last week I took a look at affirmance rates—both in general and excluding Rule 36s (see It’s Two Weeks After Your Argument, And You’ve Heard Nothing. What Does That Mean). This week I decided to see what things have been...more
Since we started this blog, we have taken a look at win-loss percentages a number of times. Now that we recently updated our statistics, we took another look. This time we thought we’d add a twist to our calculations by...more
Since yesterday was the Super Bowl, we assume that all of our readers spent today as we did, thinking about the Federal Circuit's recent decision in M&K Holdings about a video compression patent. If not, we've got you...more
Out with the old, and in with the new: it’s Court week for the short February month, so we thought we’d revisit what happened at oral arguments last month and what’s happening now....more
These charts and graphs appear in the firm's Federal Circuit Appeals from the PTAB and ITC: Summaries of Key 2020 Decisions report... Appeals from the USPTO dipped in FY20, reaching their lowest level since FY15. After four...more
Now that the new year has started, we’re seeing an uptick in precedential opinions. This week we decided to turn back to patent appeals, taking a look at IPRs and Article III—always a fun topic. Below we provide our usual...more