U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

886 F.3d 1179 (Fed. Cir. 2018)

Held that Google's use of Java API declaring code in Android was not fair use, reversing a jury verdict. The Federal Circuit found that Google's copying was not transformative and harmed the market for Java SE. Later reversed by the Supreme Court in Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc. (2021).

545 F.3d 943 (Fed. Cir. 2008)

Established the machine-or-transformation test as the sole test for determining whether a process claim is patent-eligible under 35 U.S.C. Section 101. Significantly narrowed the patentability of business methods and software patents. Later modified by the Supreme Court in Bilski v. Kappos, which held the test is an important but not exclusive test.

717 F.3d 1269 (Fed. Cir. 2013)

The en banc Federal Circuit produced a fractured opinion on the patent eligibility of computer-implemented inventions under Section 101. The lack of a clear majority opinion underscored the need for Supreme Court guidance, which came in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International (2014), establishing the two-step framework for abstract idea analysis.

580 F. App'x 985 (Fed. Cir. 2014)

Addressed design patent infringement damages in the smartphone patent wars between Apple and Samsung. The Federal Circuit considered whether damages for design patent infringement should be based on the entire product or only the infringing component, a question later resolved by the Supreme Court in Samsung Electronics v. Apple.