Fresh From the Bench: Latest Federal Circuit Court Case

CASE OF THE WEEK

Apple Inc. v. Zipit Wireless, Inc., Appeal No. 2021-1760 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 18, 2022)‎

In its only precedential patent case this week, the Federal Circuit addressed the extent to which a party exposes itself to personal jurisdiction for a declaratory judgment action when it accuses a party of patent infringement in that forum. In reversing the Northern District of California’s dismissal of Apple’s declaratory judgment lawsuit against Zipit, the Federal Circuit clarified its prior precedent on the issue, and how its prior decisions fit within the larger framework of a personal jurisdiction analysis.

In 2013, Zipit contacted Apple about two of its patents. Over three years, there were multiple rounds of correspondence about the possibility of Apple buying or licensing the patents.