IP Appeals in the Federal Circuit Jarrett Perlow, Chief Deputy - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

IP Appeals in the Federal Circuit

Jarrett Perlow, Chief Deputy USCA Federal Circuit

Calendaring Our Future Together.™

IP Appeals in the Federal Circuit

Agenda ▪ Circuit Information and Statistics ▪ Common Errors ▪ Compliance/Quality Control (QC) Process ▪ Filing Resources and Assistance

Calendaring Our Future Together.™

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Federal Circuit Information

• National Courts Building, Washington, D.C.
• 12 Active Judges, 6 Senior Judges
• National Jurisdiction
• 94 District Courts
• Court of International Trade
• Court of Federal Claims
• Court of Appeals for Veterans Affairs
• Federal Agencies
• Patent and Trademark Office
• Merit Systems Protection Board
• International Trade Commission
• Board of Contract Appeals (and more…)

Calendaring Our Future Together.™

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Federal Circuit Statistical Snapshot

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Court Term 2017 – 2018 July 1, 2017 – June 30, 2018 Cases Commenced Procedural Terminations Total Merits Terminations % Merits Terminations % Merits Reversed % of Docket Patent and Trademark Office 587 145 396 73.1% 10% 36.8% District Court (Patents) 476 183 347 65.4% 8% 29.8% Court of Federal Claims 169 60 111 64.9% 14% 10.6% Merit Systems Protection Board 128 61 78 56.1% 9% 8.0% Court of Veterans Claims 78 29 75 72.1% 9% 4.9% Court of International Trade 40 6 34 85% 21% 2.5% International Trade Comm’n. 27 6 7 54.8% 0% 1.7% Board of Contract Appeals 12 4 9 69.2% 0% 0.8% Other 80 64 8 11.1% 0% 4.9% TOTAL 1597 558 1065 65.6% 10% 100%

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Federal Circuit Statistical Snapshot

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4 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 FY 09 FY 10 FY 11 FY 12 FY 13 FY 14 FY 15 FY 16 FY 17 FY 18 (August)

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Major Case Origins by Fiscal Year

District Courts Court Federal Claims Court Int'l Trade Court App. Veterans Claims Merit Systems Protection Bd. Patent & Trademark Office Board of Contract Appeals

Federal Circuit Case Processing Times Court T erm 2017

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The median time from filing of the Notice of Appeal to CAFC final disposition in oral argument cases is 13.0 Months.

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Federal Circuit Common Errors

• Incomplete Certificates of Interest and Docketing

Statements

• answer each question, use “none” or “N/A” as

appropriate

• Use the relief “Extend Time to File Brief” for all

brief types.

• “Extend Time to File Other” must not be used

for brief-related extensions

• Statement of Jurisdiction
• Absent disagreement, a statement of jurisdiction

must not be in a response brief. FCR 28(b)

Calendaring Our Future Together.™

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Federal Circuit COI Errors

• Use the current Form 9 (rev. 10/17)
• http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/rules-of-practice/forms/form9.pdf
• Item #4: Include only (1) former counsel who

appeared below and will not appear on appeal and (2) counsel who will appear on appeal but have not yet filed an EOA

• Item #5: Must include the same information in the

briefs

• Must file an updated COI as its own docket entry in

addition to brief and motion disclosure. FCR 47.4(c)

Calendaring Our Future Together.™

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Federal Circuit Practice Tips

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• IPR Cases Notice of Election: Must file within 14

days of service of the notice of appeal 37 C.F.R. 1.983(e)(2)

• Confidential Documents: Need a non-confidential

version filed as well

• Transcripts: Do not file the transcript order form

unless a transcript is actually ordered. (FRAP 10/11)

• FRAP 44: Separate notice required, not just

mentioning it in the brief

• Calendaring: 3-4 months between briefing and

hearing scheduled

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Federal Circuit Quality Control

• Clerk’s Review
• Completed within two working days
• Notice of Non-Compliance
• Correction must be filed within five working

days or original could be stricken

• Quality Control Notice
• No correction required

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Sample Non-Compliance Notice

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Federal Circuit Filing Resources

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Quick Reference: Formal Brief Requirements

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Federal Circuit Filing Resources

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Not just for unrepresented parties!

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Federal Circuit Clerk’s Office

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• General

202-275-8000

• Case Management Team
• Case opening, Motions, Briefs

202-275-8055

• Court Services Team
• Calendaring, Arguments, Post-Judgment

202-275-8035

• Administration Team
• Attorney Admissions, Records

202-275-8000

• CM/ECF Help Desk

202-275-8000 ecfhelp@cafc.uscourts.gov

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Federal Circuit Email Notifications

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www.cafc.uscourts.gov/email-subscriptions

• Announcements and Notices
• (all public notices and website announcements)
• Daily Opinions and Orders
• (precedential and nonprecedential opinions, judgments and select orders)
• ECF System Status and Announcements
• (system and maintenance notices for electronic filers)
• Operating Status
• (notification of changes to the court’s operating status)
• Oral Argument Audio Links
• (daily argument recordings)
• Oral Argument Calendar
• (notification when a new argument calendar is released)

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Calendaring Our Future Together.™

Thank you!

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