Full Court Patent Review Bids Often ‘Waste of Time,’ Judge Says

The full bench for the lone appeals venue for patent cases gets asked far too often to review decisions made by its three-judge panels, Federal Circuit Judge Todd M. Hughes says.

The losing party seeks en banc rehearing in a majority of patent cases heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The court’s 12 active judges have to wade through them to see if they merit reconsideration. Few are granted.

Certain patent issues so deeply divide the judges that rehearing isn’t likely to clarify the law, Hughes told Bloomberg Law. Most petitions for rehearing are “a ...