On 5/19/2014 10:51 PM, Shenfen (Navia) wrote:
"1. The Federal Circuit’s decision is not binding precedent in any
>other case in any district court anywhere in the country. Because this
>case arose in the Ninth Circuit, the Federal Circuit was required to
>apply Ninth Circuit precedent. But its interpretation of Ninth Circuit
>precedent is not binding on district courts in the Ninth Circuit, or
>any other circuit. Thus, a district court in San Jose or Seattle is
>free to ignore the Federal Circuit’s misinterpretation of Sega v.
>Accolade and Sony v. Connectix."
>
>"To be sure, other district courts may find the Federal Circuit’s
>reasoning to be persuasive, but it is not binding. And as these
>district courts dig into the Federal Circuit’s reasoning, they quickly
>will conclude that it is not that persuasive. The Federal Circuit
>certainly undermined its credibility with its assertion that Google
>and its amici believe that software should not be protectable under
>copyright. The Federal Circuit itself flatly contradicts this
>assertion when it observed that"
FWIW I believe what Jonathan says about precedent here is correct.
- RF
For those of you interested in the TL;DR, the United States is divided
by geography into 12 appeals court districts (11 numbered and the
District of Columbia Circuit). All trial courts in the geographic
territory of the appeals court are bound by the decisions of that
appeals court, but are not bound by the decisions of other appeals
courts -- those may be persuasive authority, but they're not binding.
That's how we get circuit "splits" that sometimes lead to the Supreme
Court taking a case.
The Federal Circuit is an anomaly; it isn't for a specific geographic
area but instead hears appeals for certain subject matter -- we mostly
think of it for patent cases, but it also hears cases on veterans
affairs, claims against the government, and a few others. But because
the Federal Circuit doesn't have a geographic territory it also doesn't
have district courts that are obliged to apply its law, other than the
law for those subject matter areas for which the Federal Circuit is the
authoritative court.
Richard is right that in general, and for copyright, the Supreme Court
is the only court that can issue an opinion that applies to all the
courts in the US. The Federal Circuit has that effect for its particular
subject matter scope, though. Many believe setting up a court with
exclusive subject matter jurisdiction has created a problem -- the
Federal Circuit has no other sister appeals courts that might have
different opinions which could refine the decision-making. Some would
also say this is why the Supreme Court has been quite active in patent
decisions, to try to moderate the Federal Circuit.
Pamela S. Chestek, Esq.
Chestek Legal
PO Box 2492
Raleigh, NC 27602
919-800-8033
[email protected]
www.chesteklegal.com
