Last Week in the Federal Circuit (June 21–25): How Airtight Does an Air Mattress Have to Be?
- Maryrose McLaughlin, Morrison & Foerster summer associate, co-authored this post. 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... ›
Last Week in the Federal Circuit (June 7-11): Prosecution Laches—Following the Letter of the Law May Not Always Be Enough
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 doctrine of prosecution laches. Below we provide our usualy weekly... ›Last Week in the Federal Circuit (June 1–4): Prosecution Disclaimer – What’s Good for the Goose …
Although last week saw just four Federal Circuit opinions, they were all precedential ones and covered a range of interesting issues. Below we provide our usual weekly statistics and our case of the week — our highly subjective selection based on whatever case piqued our... ›Last Week in the Federal Circuit (May 24-28): Once A Granted Patent, Always a Granted Patent?
We hope our readers had a restful Memorial Day Weekend. Even DC’s cicadas took the weekend off. Before the long weekend, the Federal Circuit left us with 3 precedential opinions, including one addressing what qualifies as prior art. Below we provide our usual weekly... ›Last Week in the Federal Circuit (May 17-21): Avoiding Special Rules For Patent Litigation
By: Seth W. Lloyd
There's a new Chief Judge at the Federal Circuit (as of Saturday), but life continues as usual here at Federal Circuitry. Below we provide our usual weekly statistics and our case of the week—our highly subjective selection based on whatever case piqued our interest.... ›Last Week in the Federal Circuit (May 10-14): The Arthrex and No-Appeal-Bar Gifts Keep on Giving
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 unconstitutionally appointed) and the AIA’s no-appeal bar.... ›Last Week in the Federal Circuit (May 3-7): The case of the missing beds and affirmative misrepresentations
By: Brian R. Matsui
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 decided to focus in on... ›Last Week in the Federal Circuit (April 26-30): The Potentially Limited Life Of IP Assignment Provisions In Employment Contracts
By: Seth W. Lloyd
Today’s big news in the patent world is probably the CVSG in American Axle and the potential for a new Supreme Court case on subject-matter eligibility. But the day-to-day work goes on at the Federal Circuit, including with an interesting decision on the scope... ›Last Week in the Federal Circuit (April 19-23): Contingent Findings v. Alternative Holdings
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 have slowed... ›Last Week in the Federal Circuit (April 12-16): Self-Enabling Prior Art
By: Stephen Liu
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 case of the week—our highly... ›