Federal Circuit Issues Long Awaited Lighting Ballast Decision

On February 21, 2014, the Federal Circuit issued its en banc decision in Lighting Ballast v. Phillip Electronics (decision available here). The case had been appealed from Judge O’Connor’s earlier decision, and the Federal Circuit sat en banc to determine what standard of appellate review applies to claim construction. The Federal Circuit ultimately concluded that de novo review of claim construction should continue to be applied (i.e., the scope of the patent grant is reviewed de novo as  a matter of law).