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This seems pretty facile. What about the very many cases where both parties in a patent dispute come from "the industry whose cases [the Federal Circuit] hears"

This seems pretty facile. What about the very many cases where both parties in a patent dispute come from "the industry whose cases [the Federal Circuit] hears"? I would think that, in many cases, the defendant in a patent suit would come from the same "industry" as the plaintiff. That's why they're using the same or similar technologies, no? Remember, also, that when these judges were in private practice, they probably did about as much defense work as plaintiff-side work.

ubernostrum 12y ago
The "industry" in this case is not companies which hold patents, but rather attorneys who handle patent cases.
- pdabbadabba 12y ago
  What makes you think that judges, at the apex of their careers, appointed by the President of the United States, and with guaranteed life tenure would, instead of attempting to do their jobs in good faith, think to themselves "hurr, screw my professional reputation, let's help some other lawyers make a bunch of money?" Isn't it more likely that they just have a different view than you do on a very complicated legal topic? Sure, they have been on a bit of a losing streak at the Supreme Court, but care to wager what percentage of the Federal Circuit's docket actually gets reversed? Hint: it is less than 0.2%. There may also be other factors at play: the federal circuit, being a specialized court, tends to be used as highly persuasive authority on IP issues in circuits throughout the country. Given this structure, there is rarely any need for the Supreme Court to resolve a split between the circuits in an IP issue, which is one of the reasons that they commonly review lower-court decisions. Given this fact, why would the Supreme Court bother to hear a correct decision of the Federal Circuit? Might it not be the case that the Supreme Court usually has little reason to review Federal Circuit decisions unless they are wrong?

ubernostrum 12y ago

The "industry" in this case is not companies which hold patents, but rather attorneys who handle patent cases.

pdabbadabba 12y ago
What makes you think that judges, at the apex of their careers, appointed by the President of the United States, and with guaranteed life tenure would, instead of attempting to do their jobs in good faith, think to themselves "hurr, screw my professional reputation, let's help some other lawyers make a bunch of money?" Isn't it more likely that they just have a different view than you do on a very complicated legal topic? Sure, they have been on a bit of a losing streak at the Supreme Court, but care to wager what percentage of the Federal Circuit's docket actually gets reversed? Hint: it is less than 0.2%. There may also be other factors at play: the federal circuit, being a specialized court, tends to be used as highly persuasive authority on IP issues in circuits throughout the country. Given this structure, there is rarely any need for the Supreme Court to resolve a split between the circuits in an IP issue, which is one of the reasons that they commonly review lower-court decisions. Given this fact, why would the Supreme Court bother to hear a correct decision of the Federal Circuit? Might it not be the case that the Supreme Court usually has little reason to review Federal Circuit decisions unless they are wrong?