Federal Circuit Appeals

We recognize that advocating for our clients before the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is a distinct practice, requiring specialized knowledge and a nuanced understanding of the court’s inner workings. Our Federal Circuit practitioners have experience across the full scope of the Federal Circuit’s docket, including patent appeals from district courts, appeals of inter partes review proceedings, petitions for review of International Trade Commission (ITC) decisions, government contract appeals from the Court of Federal Claims, and appeals from the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, among others.

Our Team

Co-led by a former law clerk to a US Supreme Court justice and US Court of Appeals judge and by a former law clerk to a US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit judge, and including a number of other former Federal Circuit law clerks, our Federal Circuit practice is known for its experience and remarkable record of success. Morgan Lewis has handled hundreds of appeals before the Federal Circuit, earning us numerous accolades from Chambers USA, The Legal 500 US, Law360, and The American Lawyer.

The lawyers in our Federal Circuit practice are active in the Federal Circuit bar and among them have presented oral argument before every Federal Circuit judge. Our team offers sophisticated appellate-level strategy combined with elite written and oral advocacy. We also bring unique technical backgrounds and advanced degrees in engineering and the sciences, enabling us to provide targeted subject matter mastery to tackle even the most complicated intellectual property (IP)-related appeals.

Specialized Acumen & Comprehensive Scope

Our focused Federal Circuit practice is a key component of Morgan Lewis’s award-winning IP litigation practice, which includes top-tier lawyers representing clients in their most high-stakes, complex IP matters. Our IP litigation team argues tactically and aggressively for clients in every type of IP dispute, including patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret, as well as the full spectrum of related issues arising in these areas. Close integration with our Federal Circuit practice helps preserve error in the trial courts, positioning our clients for success on appeal. Morgan Lewis’s Federal Circuit victories were foundational to our IP litigation practice being named IP Litigation Department of the Year by The American Lawyer and an IP Practice Group of the Year by Law360 in 2019.

Complex patent matters often involve numerous parallel proceedings, and our IP and Federal Circuit practices have a command of the issues, resources, and talent to handle concurrent cases in multiple fora. A notable matter involved simultaneous district court, inter partes review, and ITC proceedings, resulting in numerous different Federal Circuit appeals—where Morgan Lewis achieved uniform success.

Our Federal Circuit practice is also part of—and bolstered by—our firm’s broader appellate practice. Particularly in patent appeals from inter partes review proceedings, the Federal Circuit increasingly relies on general principles of administrative law. Our lawyers’ experience with administrative law, state contract law, appellate procedure in the regional circuits, and the US Supreme Court provides them with a broad perspective that makes them extremely effective in the Federal Circuit.