Federal Appeals Court judges visit BU Law to hear cases concerning patent violation and infringement
Three justices of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard cases concerning patent violation and infringement.
On October 7, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard oral arguments for several federal cases in Boston University School of Law’s Schell Moot Courtroom. Students and faculty were invited to watch the arguments and meet with the judges and their law clerks at a reception following the hearings. These hearings were one stop on the Federal Circuit’s three-day visit to Boston, during which they heard several cases at a variety of venues around the city.
As the only appellate-level court with jurisdiction over patent case appeals, three of the four cases the Federal Circuit heard concerned patent violation and infringement. They were: Commonwealth Scientific v. Cisco Systems, Inc.,Componex Corporation v. Electronics for Imaging, Inc., and Trustees of Columbia Univ. v. Symantec Corporation.
The judges’ visit underscores the prestige of BU Law’s IP Law Program, which US News & World Report consistently ranks within the top 10 programs in the nation. With a faculty of established professionals in the field, and access to clinics and internships around the city, including the newly formed partnership with MIT for the Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property & Cyberlaw Program, the concentration prepares students for a successful career in IP Law.
The panel of judges consisted of Chief Circuit Judge Sharon Prost, and Federal Circuit Judges Timothy B. Dyk and Todd M. Hughes. Before Judge Prost joined the Federal Circuit in 2001, she held a variety of positions, including Minority Chief Counsel, Deputy Chief Counsel, and Chief Counsel of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate. Prior to Judge Dyk’s appointment, he was an associate and partner at Wilmer Cutler and Pickering for 26 years and then Partner and Chair, Issues and Appeals Practice Area, at Jones, Day, Reavis and Pogue. Judge Hughes joined the Federal Circuit recently, in 2013, before which he served as Deputy Director of the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Civil Division of the US Department of Justice.
In Commonwealth Scientific v. Cisco Systems, Inc., Cisco appealed the court’s order to pay over $16 million in damages to Commonwealth Scientific for violating its Wi-Fi patent. Several large technology companies, including Apple Inc., Intel Corp., and Hewlett-Packard Co., have sided with Cisco by filing amicus briefs urging the court to recalculate the $16 million award.
In Componex Corporation v. Electronics for Imaging, the court heard Componex Corporation’s appeal after it extinguished most of the company’s claims of Electronics for Imaging’s patent infringement. The court declared that the patent—for a large roller used in printers—was not infringed upon, except in the case of two of the accused products.
The final case, Trustees of Columbia Univ. v. Symantec Corporation, was Columbia University’s appeal after the court shut down most of their lawsuit against Symantec. Columbia University had sued Symantec for the infringement of patents on computer security and intrusion detection, research that had been done by Columbia University students and faculty.
In addition to BU Law, the Federal Circuit also heard cases at Northeastern University School of Law, Boston College School of Law, Suffolk Law School, Harvard Law School, and the John J. Moakley US Courthouse.