Recusal Challenge Based On Technical Intern´s Prior History Must Evidence A High Level Of Partiality

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in a non-precedential opinion, affirmed the district's denial of Uniloc's motion for recusal based on contacts with Microsoft by the district judge's intern assigned to the case. Uniloc USA, Inc. and Uniloc Singapore Private Limited., Case No. 08-1121 (Fed. Cir., Aug. 7, 2008) (Moore, J.; Michel, C. J., dissenting-in-part.)

The district court hired an intern to aid the judge in resolving certain technical details that arose when Uniloc sued Microsoft for infringement of a patent relating to software activation technology. The unpaid intern was an evening law student and was finishing his Ph.D. in computer science.

After objecting to the hiring of the intern, Uniloc filed a motion to recuse the judge from the case. Uniloc objected to the intern, and ultimately the judge, because it believed the intern possessed "financial and contractual relationships" with Microsoft. These relationships included the receipt of