Here Come Da (New) Judge

The U. S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, deferring to regional circuit law, reversed the district court’s denial of Microsoft’s Motion to reassign the case (on remand) to a new judge. Eolas Technologies, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., Case No. 06-1238 (Fed. Cir. July 31, 2006) (Rader, J.).

In Eolas I, the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s claim construction and its damages analysis with respect to 35 U.S.C. § 271(f). See IP Update, Vol 8, No. 3 (March 2005). At the same time, the Court found that the district court erred in rejecting Microsoft’s defenses and vacated the district court’s judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) and the district court’s decision that excluded a prior art software product from its analysis and remanded the case. The decision in Eolas I did not mention reassignment to a different judge on remand.