Like the Vatican puffing smoke, a federal appeals court–in a case involving FAC–has signaled that it is taking seriously the issue of transparency in patent infringement litigation.
The case is an appeal from the massive Apple v. Samsung suit. Both parties have appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to void rulings by the trial judge that order the companies to unseal–that is, make public–financial and other records that they filed with the court. FAC joined the case as an amicus to advocate the unsealing of the records, and for greater transparency in patent cases generally.
The appeals court today granted the request of FAC and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (also an amicus) to participate in oral argument in the appeal. (See Order below). The granting of argument time to amici in Federal Circuit cases is almost unheard of.
That the Court decided to allocate oral argument time to FAC and RCFP suggests that the Court is taking seriously the issue of transparency in patent infringement suits. — Peter Scheer
https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/fed-circuit-amicus-order.pdf