INTERESTING STATISTICS FROM CAFC: The Boston Patent Law Association Newsletter recently printed highlights of Judge Lourie's keynote speech to the group, where he updated some facts on the Federal Circuit:

• More cases are coming to the CAFC via summary judgment instead of a full trial (no suprise - thank you Markman);
• Since Festo, the number of equivalents cases have dropped (again, no real surprise there);
• As of December 2004, there were no cases that were pending for longer than a year;
• Appeals to the CAFC have increased 40% in the last eight years, and 83% in the last fourteen years;
• Reversal rate for patent cases from the district courts is a relatively high 35%;
• Decisions from the USPTO are reversed in only 5% of cases