SAN FRANCISCO — Something funny happened on the way to giving district judges more deference on claims construction.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit surprised the patent community Friday by voting 6-4 to leave Cybor v. FAS Technologies on the books, meaning claim construction decisions remain subject to de novo review at the Federal Circuit. The decision figures to please large technology companies who urged the court to stick with the precedent, while frustrating district judges who don’t like seeing the time and effort invested in patent litigation upended in the absence of clear error.
