Archive for August, 2021

No En Banc Patent Cases

Tuesday, August 31st, 2021

One of the things I particularly like about the FedCircuitBlog is the page dedicated to en banc Federal Circuit cases. It makes it very easy to see what the Federal Circuit has been focusing its attention on. Apparently, over the past few years that focus of attention has been on veterans cases. You have to go all the way back to 2018 in Click-to-Call v. Ingenio to find a Federal Circuit en banc decision on patent law. The Federal Circuit granted en banc review in another veterans case just last month in Taylor v. McDonough — its fifth veterans en banc case since 2018.

I guess it makes sense, patent law is already very clear. 😉

Quote of the day

Wednesday, August 25th, 2021

In AMERICAN AXLE & MANUFACTURING v. NEAPCO HOLDINGS, 966 F.3d 1347 (Fed. Cir. 2020), Judge Dyk wrote a concurring opinion in the denial of rehearing en banc. He notes that with respect to step one in the Alice inquiry there can be a factual issue.

“The step-one “directed to” inquiry in this case, as in O’Reilly, is what the claim says. As to that question, the panel does not suggest that there can never be a factual issue, but there is no such factual issue here.”

I have updated this earlier post (Alice Step 1 — an issue of law based on underlying facts) with this quote.

LOL

Saturday, August 21st, 2021

Judge Moore was on her game in the oral argument of WINDY CITY INNOVATIONS, LLC v. FACEBOOK, INC., No. 2020-1153 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 8, 2021). It was a LOL moment for me when I heard her make this wry comment:

She followed up with a little poke at Federal Circuit §101 precedent: