The Federal Circuit’s Oracle: When Silence Speaks Louder Than Words
Patent – Patently-O 2024-11-25
Summary:
by Dennis Crouch
The Supreme Court currently has two cases that each provide opportunity to address a longstanding problem with the Federal Circuit’s practice of issuing no-opinion summary affirmances in patent cases. In ParkerVision v. TCL Industries Holdings Co., No. 24-518, and Island Intellectual Property LLC v. TD Ameritrade, Inc., No. 24-461, the petitioners challenge the Federal Circuit’s use of Rule 36 judgments – where the court simply affirms the lower tribunal’s decision without any written opinion. Both petitions are well drafted by expert counsel and both have recently received strong amicus support.
The cases present the issue from different angles. ParkerVision focuses on appeals from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), arguing that the Federal Circuit’s use of Rule 36 violates 35 U.S.C. § 144’s explicit requirement that the court “shall issue . . . its mandate and opinion” when deciding appeals from the Patent Office. The case arose after the Federal Circuit summarily affirmed PTAB decisions invalidating ParkerVision’s wireless communication technology patents. Island IP, on the other hand, challenges a Rule 36 affirmance of a district court’s summary judgment invalidating its patent under 35 U.S.C. § 101.