The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently ruled on an appeal regarding a Pennsylvania district court’s decision to decline jurisdiction over a first filed declaratory judgment filed by Communications Test Design, Inc. (“CTDI”) in favor of a patent infringement suit filed six days later in a New York district court by Contec LLC (“Contec”). The Federal Circuit concluded that the Pennsylvania district court did not abuse its broad discretion under the Declaratory Judgment Act to departure from the typical first-to-file rule given the presence of equitable considerations.
Equitable Considerations Warranted Departure from First-To-File Rule
No Comments
Litigation
- USPTO Responds to Patent Bar Gender Gap Inquiry, Mulls Changes to Registration Process
- US Inventor Backs SCOTUS Petition to Clarify Claim Construction Principles
- Ericsson Wins Anti-Interference Injunction Against Samsung in Texas FRAND Case
- Supreme Court Will Review Doctrine of Assignor Estoppel
- Patent Filings Roundup: IP Edge End-of-Year Filing Spree, WSOU Ends Year as Top Single-Entity Filer; AC Competitors Go to War Over a Cool Million
Recent Posts
- The Right Choice: IP Stakeholders Emphasize Practical Experience, Strong IP Advocacy in Next USPTO Head
- USPTO Responds to Patent Bar Gender Gap Inquiry, Mulls Changes to Registration Process
- How Patents Enable Mavericks and Challenge Incumbents
- ipAwarenessAssessment: Inventors and Business Owners Should Start Their IP Journey with this USPTO-NIST Tool
- Other Barks & Bites for Friday, January 22: Iancu and Peter Step Down from USPTO, CJEU Asked Whether Preliminary Injunction Standard Burdens Patent Owners, SCOTUS Denial Leaves Invalidation of Idenix Genus Patent Claims Untouched