96-Year-Old Suspended Judge Honored at Patent Law Conference

Pauline Newman, the nation’s oldest active federal judge, accepted plaudits and gave out an award named for her at a gathering for patent attorneys, while she continues to battle a disability and misconduct probe that partially sidelined her on the Federal Circuit.

The 96-year-old jurist was inducted into IPWatchdog’s hall of fame at the patent law blog’s annual conference in Herndon, Va., on Monday. She then gave out the inaugural Pauline Newman Award to Henry Hadad, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. senior vice president and deputy general counsel and gave a short speech to the lawyers in attendance.

From Newman these gestures, in and of themselves, signal something of a rebuttal to the a special committee of judges from the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that has questioned whether she is fit to serve as an appellate judge. Judges on the court suspended Newman from taking on new cases during the investigation and a special committee, composed of Chief Judge Kimberly A. Moore, Sharon Prost, and Richard G. Taranto, recommended a separate one-year suspension due to Newman’s refusal to sit for a neurological examination by a doctor of their choosing.

Her remarks Monday didn’t touch on the probe, however, instead focusing on the broader sweep of history and the challenge of crafting a patent system that strikes a balance between private and public interests “in a way that it provides the incentive that Thomas Jefferson had in mind, that Lord Coke in England had in mind centuries before.”

“If the time comes, as it does apparently every 30 years or 40 years” to restructure that system, “then let’s do it,” Newman said, before leaving the stage to standing applause as she blew a kiss to the audience.

Newman has earned a reputation on the bench for opinions that stick up for patent owners and their legal rights. She has a passionate following among lawyers who represent those interests, many of whom were in attendance.

Since the launch of the disability probe, she has characterized the effort as bullying and said she was targeted not because of her health but due to her frequent dissents.

Among her fiercest supporters has been Gene Quinn, the CEO and founder of IPWatchdog.

In remarks after Newman left the stage Quinn was reserved.

“I promised I wouldn’t make it political,” he told attendees. This “is what Judge Newman deserves. She deserves a parade.”

At a panel preceding the award luncheon, however—with Newman sitting in the front row—Quinn was less restrained.

Speaking about the investigation, he called Moore “very vindictive” and said, without elaborating further, the chief judge had told others that “‘the only way this ends is with Judge Newman off the court.’”

“I’ve lost almost all respect for the Federal Circuit,” he continued, calling it “unconscionable that all the judges on the court would be OK with what’s going on.”