Gunn v. Minton, 133 S. Ct. 1059 (2013) (Roberts). For the Court’s slip opinion, click here.Gunn02202013
Gunn addresses the question “whether a state law claim alleging legal malpractice in the handling of a patent case must be brought in federal court.” The issue arose because “Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over cases ‘arising under any Act of Congress relating to patents.’ 28 U. S. C. §1338(a).” The Court held that a state law legal malpractice claim did not arise under patent law, and the Texas state courts erred in dismissing the claim for lack of jurisdiction.
Importantly, though not mentioned by the Court expressly, the holding meant that the Federal Circuit would not have exclusive appellate jurisdiction over most patent law malpractice suits, a jurisdiction that it had regularly exercised over the past several years. Read CPLRG™ 0082
