No Opinion Patent Rulings Need Supreme Court Look, Inventor Says

An inventor whose patent application was denied wants the U.S. Supreme Court to require the Federal Circuit to issue opinions in patent cases involving unsettled law.

Under the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s Rule 36, the court can affirm cases without opinion. Its use of the rule deprives “the legal system of further development of the law, but it also deprives parties of the opportunity to seek further review of the merits through rehearing, rehearing en banc, or a petition for certiorari,” Charles Fote said in a certiorari petition docketed Monday.

The Supreme Court has denied petitions ...