Archive for February, 2020

1000

Friday, February 28th, 2020

717Madisonplace.com celebrated a milestone yesterday by reaching one thousand posts.

Thank you for reading and listening!

En banc review requested in Polaris v. Kingston, on Arthrex issues

Thursday, February 27th, 2020

Both the United States and Polaris have requested en banc review in the recent Federal Circuit decision of Polaris v. Kingston. This case presents substantially similar issues as those that were presented in Arthrex. Namely, should PTAB judges be considered principal officers of the United States, who must be nominated by the “President” and confirmed by the Senate? My understanding is that Polaris actually raised this issue in its appeal briefing before the parties in Arthrex did so; but, due to the timing of oral arguments, the Federal Circuit panel in Arthrex was able to rule first (in a very speedy opinion after oral argument). During its oral argument, Polaris argued that its case would be a better vehicle for en banc review than the Arthrex case. I tend to agree; although, I personally would like to see both cases considered together in a joint en banc review.

You can read Solicitor Krause’s en banc petition for the PTO here:

You can read Polaris’ en banc petition here:

Video of oral argument in FTC v. Qualcomm

Saturday, February 22nd, 2020

I seem to remember that someone once commented that the Federal Circuit courtrooms could easily implement video recordings of their oral arguments — if the court chose to do so. The Ninth Circuit has been doing so for many years. Do you think the Federal Circuit should add video recordings?

Here is the video of the recent oral argument at the Ninth Circuit in FTC v. Qualcomm:

Oral argument of the month: In re Google

Thursday, February 13th, 2020

The oral argument of the month is from the order today in In re Google, 2019-126 (Fed. Cir. February 13, 2020). [Link]. The subject matter concerns the rather dry subject of venue; but, the oral argument is very interesting. Moreover, it highlights how the courts are being forced to think carefully about how laws written in the 19th and 20th centuries should be applied in the information age.

A careful listener will hear a reference to The Scarlet Pimpernel by Judge Wallach.