Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-10-2025
Abstract
This article examines the Federal Circuit's continued use of Rule 36 summary affirmances to dispose of complex patent cases without written opinions. Through analysis of eight recent Rule 36 cases decided in early 2025, the author demonstrates that sophisticated legal issues involving millions of dollars are being summarily affirmed despite presenting novel and important questions of patent law. The cases discussed involve design patent evidentiary standards, jury trial rights for hybrid legal-equitable claims, analogous art determinations, claim construction, written description requirements, and PTAB procedural issues. The author argues that while the court may be avoiding difficult cases with complex factual records, particularly in IPR appeals, this practice deprives the patent community of valuable precedent, reduces transparency in judicial decision-making, and potentially allows judges to evade the disciplined analysis that writing opinions requires. The article suggests that the court's overuse of Rule 36 affirmances conflicts with its fundamental duty to explain and develop patent law, regardless of whether the ultimate outcomes are correct.
Recommended Citation
Dennis D. Crouch,
Million-Dollar Mysteries: Recent Complex Patent Cases Lost to Rule 36Patently-O
(2025).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/facpubs/1232