USA – CALIFORNIA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Michelle E. Armond, Douglas R. Wilson, Monica M. Arnold and Amy Han, Armond Wilson LLP
Court of Appeals that typically reviews appeals from California federal courts. Intellectual property appeals make up about 65% of the Federal Circuit’s pending caseload. Unlike some other regional circuit courts of appeals, the Federal Circuit’s Rule 36 practice permits the appellate court to issue one-word affirmances without a written opin- ion on the merits. This allows the court to efficiently dispose of clear-cut cases with no precedential value. However, the court has been criticised in recent years because its Rule 36 affirmances have been used to resolve about 40% of Patent Office appeals and 17% of district court intellectual property appeals. Over the past decade, numerous parties have unsuccessfully sought Supreme Court review of the Federal Circuit’s Rule 36 dispositions. The past year of 2025 notably brought a sharp decline in the Federal Circuit’s Rule 36 practice. According to our own forthcoming study, Rule 36 affirmances from Patent Office appeals declined by about 40% last year, from 40% to just 24% of these appeals in 2025.
We observed even steeper declines of about 65% in district court appeals. In 2025, the Federal Circuit issued Rule 36 affirmances in just 6% of its disposi- tions of district court cases, compared to a previous rate of 17%, instead favouring issuing non-preceden- tial opinions. We are continuing to track these trends The only thing that has a remained a constant in intel- lectual property litigation in California is change. As technology evolves and patent law adapts alongside it, sophisticated attorneys and their clients must do more than keep up. The playbook from last year will probably not work this year. at the Federal Circuit. Where we are headed After watching these policies play out over the past three decades across California, our experienced hands and crystal balls are warmed up and ready. We look forward to all of the rapid changes, and the opportunities they present, arriving in the near future.
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