Justia U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

A civilian employee of the Department of Defense retired in 2007 then served as a re-employed annuitant for a two-year term ending January 3, 2009. Like many Department employees, he was subject to the National Security Personnel System, and eligible for performance-based bonuses and salary increases until the system was repealed in 2009. He qualified in 2008, but was ineligible for a salary increase because of his two-year contract; by regulation, the effective date of any salary increase would be the first day of the first pay period on or after January 1. The Department denied a bonus, arguing that the effective date was the same as the effective of a salary increase. The employee argued that the effective date should be either the end of the appraisal period (September 30, 2008) or the first day of the following year. In his class action under the Little Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. 1346, the district court ruled in favor of the Department. The Federal Circuit affirmed, holding that the court had jurisdiction under the Act and deferring to the agency's interpretation of its own regulation. View "Price v. Panetta" on Justia Law

From 2000 to 2008, plaintiff worked in a permanent position as an attorney in the Department of Homeland Security. She then spent about eight months in an excepted temporary appointment as an Immigration Judge. Upon the completion of a background investigation, she started a permanent excepted appointment as an Immigration Judge. About 17 months later, the DOJ terminated her appointment based on alleged misconduct. An ALJ dismissed her appeal for lack of jurisdiction under 5 U.S.C. 7511(a)(1)(C)(ii). The Board denied review. The Federal Circuit affirmed, holding that plaintiff did not meet the statutory definition of employee as one "who has completed 2 years of current continuous service in the same or similar positions in an Executive agency under other than a temporary appointment limited to 2 years or less." View "Roy v. Merit Sys. Prot. Bd." on Justia Law

Plaintiff owns the 245 Patent, originally issued in 2005, and claims p-GlcNAc, a polymer extracted from another polymer called chitin, that accelerates hemostasis (a process that causes bleeding to stop) and is useful in trauma units for treating serious wounds. The district court found infringement. While the case was pending, the patent was re-examined; the scope of the claims changed. In 2011, the Federal Circuit vacated an injunction and award of damages and remanded. The court subsequently granted reconsideration en banc and affirmed the district court. Although the district court did not have the reexamination before it, the Federal Circuit considered arguments with respect to reexamination and concluded, as an alternative ground for affirmance, that intervening rights do not apply to claims that have not been amended and are not new. View "Marine Polymer Tech., Inc. .Hemcon, Inc." on Justia Law

Revolution is a manufacturer of eye-glass frames and auxiliary sunglasses that can be attached to the eyeglass frames, including by use of magnets. Aspex's 545 patent is directed to magnetic clip-on eyewear, primarily sunglass lenses. The companies have been suing one another for more than a decade. In a case concerning the 545 patent, the district court granted summary judgment on res judicata grounds. The court remanded for determination of whether products introduced during the pendency of earlier California litigation were included within the scope of that litigation, and whether collateral estoppel limits the right of Aspex to proceed under the 545 patent. If the court determines that Aspex is not barred, it must determine infringement based on construction of critical terms of two claims. View "Aspex Eyewear, Inc. v. Marchon Eyewear, Inc." on Justia Law

Zoltek’s patent, "Controlled Surface Electrical Resistance Carbon Fiber Sheet Product" concerns manufacturing carbon fiber sheets with controlled surface electrical resistivity. The filters were used in F-22 fighter jets, which Lockheed designed and built under government contract. Zoltek claimed infringement in a 1996 suit against the U.S. under 28 U.S.C. 1498(c). The Federal Circuit held that the statute did not waive sovereign immunity because the manufacturing process began in a foreign country and that Zoltek could not allege patent infringement as a taking under the Tucker Act. On remand, the court allowed Zoltek to add a claim against Lockheed under 35 U.S.C. 271(g) and transfer the case. The Federal Circuit court reconsidered its earlier decision and concluded that suit against the government is not barred and that 1498(c) does not apply to this case because the infringement was based on activities in the U.S. An independent cause of action is available under 28 U.S.C. 1498(a) for direct infringement by the government or its contractors that is not dependent on 35 U.S.C. 271(a). When the government is subject to suit under 1498(a) for alleged infringement by a contractor, the contractor is immune from individual liability. View "Zoltek Corp. v. United States" on Justia Law

The patents are directed to regulating access to content that is delivered through a computer network. Digital-Vending sued three businesses involved in online education, alleging infringement. The district court issued a claim construction order. Two defendants entered into settlements. The third, University of Phoenix, sought summary judgment of non-infringement. Digital-Vending filed a motion for reconsideration of construction of the term "registered user." The district court granted for summary judgment of non-infringement and entered judgment in favor of Phoenix. The Federal Circuit vacated in part, finding that the determination was based on erroneous construction, and affirmed in part. View "Digital-Vending Servs. Int'l, LLC v. Univ. of Phoenix, Inc." on Justia Law

During World War II, the U.S. contracted with oil companies for the production of aviation fuel, which resulted in production of hazardous waste. The waste was dumped at the California McColl site. Several decades later, the oil companies were held liable for cleanup costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, 42 U.S.C. 9601, and sought reimbursement from the government based on the contracts. The district court entered summary judgment on liability, finding that the contracts contained open ended indemnification agreements and encompassed costs for CERLCA cleanup, and awarded $87,344,345.70. The trial judge subsequently discovered that his wife had inherited 97.59 shares of stock in a parent to two of the oil companies. The judge ultimately vacated his summary judgment rulings; severed two companies from the suit and directed the clerk to reassign their claims to a different judge; reinstated his prior decisions with respect to two remaining companies; and entered judgment against the government ($68,849,505). The Federal Circuit vacated and remanded for reassignment to another judge. The judge was required to recuse himself under 28 U.S.C. 455(b)(4) and the error was not harmless.View "Shell Oil Co. v. United States" on Justia Law

Olivia, born in 2000, apparently healthy, became ill after her first vaccinations. Her condition required extensive hospitalization; she still requires a ventilator and a wheelchair. Her parents filed a petition with the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, 42 U.S.C. 300aa-1 to34. Olivia's injuries are not covered by a table of injuries presumed to be caused by vaccines, so the parents were required to show that one of the administered vaccines caused or significantly aggravated her condition. They submitted two reports by experts. The special master identified unanswered questions, but the parents took the position that it was unreasonable to require such detail at the pre-hearing stage. Based on failure to submit a supplemental report and failure to identify a clear theory of causation, the special master dismissed. The claims court affirmed. The Federal Circuit reversed. The special master did not appropriately review the evidence of causation under the summary judgment standard. View "Simanski v. Sec'y of Health & Human Servs." on Justia Law

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board affirmed an examining attorney's refusal to register the trademark XCEED, in standard character form, for agricultural seed, citing the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. 1052(d). A previously-registered word and design mark for agricultural seeds consisted of the characters X-Seed in stylized form. The Federal Circuit affirmed, finding substantial evidence that the XCEED mark would likely cause confusion with the X-Seed mark. View "In re Viterra" on Justia Law

In 1996, Staats applied for a patent titled "Isochronous Channel Having a Linked List of Buffers.” The 600 patent issued in 1999, describing improvements to management of isochronous data transfers, such as transfer of real-time video data from one component to another in a computer system. Within the two-year period, 35 U.S.C. 251, Staats filed a first broadening reissue application. The first reissue patent issued in 2004. While that application was pending, Staats filed a second broadening reissue application in 2004, as a continuation of the first application. While the second application was pending, but almost seven years after the original patent issued, Staats filed a third broadening reissue application in 2006, as a continuation of the second application. During prosecution of the third application, Staats added broadened claims in 2007. The examiner rejected the third application, finding that the new broadened claims were "not related in any way to what was covered in the original broadening reissue." The Board sustained the rejection. The Federal Circuit reversed. The first broadening reissue application was filed within the two-year limit; that is sufficient to satisfy the requirement.View "In re Staats" on Justia Law