Objectively Baseless Appellate Review and Federal Circuit’s 2-Part “Exceptional Case” Test Are At Issue.
On October 1, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to review two Federal Circuit opinions involving fee issues in patent cases.
Patent Office Bldg. Washington, D.C. Lib. of Cong.
The first one, Highmark v. Allcare Health Mgt. Systems, Case No. 12-1163, centers upon whether the Federal Circuit must give deference to a trial judge’s determination that a patent claim is objectively baseless for purposes of awarding fees in a patent troll situation. The Federal Circuit used a de novo review standard, and the issue is whether deference should be given to the lower court’s view below--although the issue to be confronted will apply to all cases (even ones not involving “trolls”).
The second one, Fitness v. Icon Health & Fitness, Case No. 12-1184, deals with the Federal Circuit’s two-part standard for determining if a case is an “exceptional” one for purposes of awarding fees to a winning party under a patent fee-shifting statute. Here, the defendant won summary judgment, but was denied fees under the “exceptional” statutory language in an unpublished decision. The issue is whether the Federal Circuit’s test improperly appropriates a district court’s discretionary authority to award fees under the patent statute.
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