Equitable Considerations Warranted Departure from First-To-File Rule

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.

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