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Union Obtains Protest Relief In District Court

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 03.08.06

In Nat'l Treasury Employees Union v. IRS (D.D.C., Feb. 22, 2006), the union successfully challenged the decision of IRS to contract out mailroom functions without holding a public-private competition as required by the 2004 IRS appropriations act. Of most interest was the finding of the district court that the provisions of 28 U.S.C. 1491(b) giving the Court of Federal Claims exclusive jurisdiction over protests did not apply because the union was not an "interested party" under that provision, i.e., an actual or prospective bidder.

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Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.26.25

From ‘Second’ to ‘First:’ Federal Circuit Tackles Obvious Claim Errors

Patent claims must be clear and definite, as they set the boundaries of the patentee’s rights. Occasionally, however, claim language contains errors, such as typographical mistakes or incorrect numbering. Courts possess very limited authority to correct such errors. The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has emphasized that judicial correction is appropriate only in rare circumstances, where (1) the error is evident from the face of the patent, and (2) the proposed correction is the sole reasonable interpretation in view of the claim language, specification, and prosecution history. See Group One, Ltd. v. Hallmark Cards, Inc., 407 F.3d 1297, 1303 (Fed. Cir. 2005) and Novo Indus., L.P. v. Micro Molds Corp., 350 F.3d 1348, 1357 (Fed. Cir. 2003)....