- Amgen v. Hoechst: Amgen has filed its petition for certiorari asking for a review of de novo appellate claim construction. The money quote:
"Construction of patent claims depends on technological mastery and is therefore, like the inquiry into the reliability of scientific testimony under Daubert, 509 U.S. 579 (1993), something for which trial courts are uniquely suited and owed special deference. The Federal Circuit’s simplistic syllogism – if an issue is for the court, it must be subject to complete de novo review on appeal – flies in the face of Rule 52(a) and is belied by well-established practice in patent and other areas of the law in which the factual determinations undergirding a court’s legal pronouncement are reviewed for clear error."
Amgen follows the Supreme Court's lead in verbally trashing CAFC jurisprudence. It is one thing for Justice Scalia to shout gobbledygook -- quite another coming from counsel asking for a hearing.
