The US Supreme Court just held that even patent lawyers must face state law malpractice claims in state court. Some members of the patent bar are not happy about that outcome. Indeed, Mr. Noonan continues to jibe at SCOTUS because it does not defer to the Federal Circuit, and indeed has the temerity to overturn Federal Circuit rulings, including rulings on the scope of patents involving genes. Others find the ruling not surprising and point out that the opinion was unanimous, a rare thing these days.
Perhaps the Federal Circuit is becoming an example of a judicial system version of regulatory capture ?
Meanwhile, the rest of us can think about what the opinion means for federal law versus state law ssues in contexts other than patent law.
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