Article Suggestion: Equitable Power of the Federal Circuit to Supplement the Record

I sometimes wonder when listening to oral arguments whether judges are straying outside the record.  If you are looking for a topic to write about, a helpful article might address the authority or lack of authority for the Federal Circuit to rely on extra-record evidence.  The Sixth Circuit case of Inland Bulk Transfer Co. v. Cummins Engine Co., 332 F. 3d 1007 (6th Cir. 2003) suggests that there is a split among the circuits on whether circuit courts of appeal possess equitable power to permit supplementation of the record.  In my quick search, I did not find any support either way for whether the Federal Circuit has weighed in on this issue.   A sub-topic of the article might be whether such extra-record evidence is permitted at all for review of agency determinations—e.g., TTAB proceedings—as opposed to district court cases.

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