By Kevin E. Noonan — As is well-known, Congress established the Federal Circuit as a circuit court of appeals to harmonize U.S. patent law in an environment where regional Circuit Courts had developed their own judicial interpretations of the patent statute. As a consequence, it was often to a party’s benefit to choose to litigate in a Circuit where the law was favorable to their case. The resulting disharmony was occasionally and variably corrected by the Supreme Court, but Congress perceived the High Court’s capacity or concentration on patent law to be insufficient to the country’s needs for consistent application…
