Patent Bar Braces for Federal Circuit Shift as Worker Cases Rise

A potential flood of federal worker appeals to the Federal Circuit will be a “wake up call” for patent attorneys who’ve become accustomed to a mostly patent-focused docket at the court.

The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board—which had no members for the entirety of the Trump administration—now has a two-member quorum for the first time in five years. The board, which awaits Senate confirmation of its third and final member, has now started issuing decisions to chip away at a backlog of nearly 3,600 cases concerning federal agency personnel, pay, and benefit decisions, as well as accusations of whistleblower retaliation. ...