Final Really Does Mean Final In The Federal Circuit

Defendants in patent infringement lawsuits often request that the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO") reexamine the patent-in-suit. Patent reexamination is a process where the validity of an issued patent is again reviewed by the PTO. Patent infringement litigation, of course, takes place in federal district courts. Often, a patent infringement action brought by the patentee in federal district court and a reexamination proceeding initiated by the accused infringer in the PTO proceed at the same time. In Fresenius USA v. Baxter International¹, the Federal Circuit ruled that where a reexamination and a patent infringement lawsuit involving the same patent are concurrently proceeding, the first action to reach true finality may render the other moot². In the litigation, the Federal Circuit had earlier affirmed the trial court's judgment that the patent was infringed and not invalid, but remanded the case back to the trial court to determine damages