Re: Any news on College Savings Bank oral arguments?

On Fri, Apr 23, 1999, Andrew C. Greenberg <werdna[_at_]gate.net> wrote:
>
> On Thu, 22 Apr 1999, Mark Lemley <mlemley[_at_]mail.law.utexas.edu> wrote:
> >
> > There was quite a good report on Wednesday in the New York Times.
> > Several of the conservative justices seemed to be of the opinion that
> > banning suit in federal court wasn't too troubling, especially if the
> > state provided a remedy in its courts.
>
> But how, exactly, would that be done? Presently, the Federal Courts
> have exclusive jurisdiction over Patent claims under the Act, and the
> Federal Circuit has exclusive appellate jurisdiction. Admittedly,
> this is merely a prejudice arising from some degree of comfort with
> the status quo, but the entire thing seems unworkable. State court
> judges would seem ill-equipped to handle the unfamiliar and complex
> patent claims, and worse, the prospect of assorted State appellate
> court patent cases brings back the spectre of a Pre-Federal Circuit
> forum-shopping nightmare.
>
> Would there be an exception just for claims including state
> defendants? What happens when Plaintiff sues Defendant for
> infringement and the Defendant attempts to implead a State?
> Could a Plaintiff bring suit against non-state defendants in a
> jurisdiction with favorable state appellate court opinions just by
> joining the state?
>
> *shudder* One of the few virtues of practicing patent litigation is
> the compactness (certainly not the consistency) of the body of law
> addressing the subject matter -- its all Federal Circuit. Would all
> that go bye-bye?

     In a word, yes. Moreover, the core members of the Seminole majority, and in particular Justice O'Connor seemed hostile to that line of reasoning. (She used to be a state court judge). She seemed to believe that the Supreme Court would effectively serve as the final appellate last word on construction of the patent law.

Christopher A. Mohr
<chrismohr[_at_]sprintmail.com> Received on Fri May 07 1999 - 16:55:42 GMT