En banc sua sponte sub secretum?

Today marks eight months since the Federal Circuit heard oral argument in the section 101 case Dealertrack v. Huber.  I’ve been curious why it is taking a long time to render an opinion in the case.  One possibility is that the panel is waiting for further guidance on section 101 issues from the Supreme Court in Mayo v. Prometheus.  A more remote possibility is that the court sua sponte has taken the panel appeal en banc without requiring further briefing or oral argument.  When the court secretly did this in Abbott Labs v. Sandoz, 566 F.3d 1282 (Fed. Cir. 2009) with respect to “product-by-process” claims, Dennis Crouch referred to the court acting “en banc sua sponte sub secretum.” 

You can listen to the oral argument in Dealertrack v. Huber [here].

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