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• Recent Decisions on Patent and Copyright Jurisdiction ( October 2002 )
  Barry J. Hurewitz and David B. Bassett of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP

  The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit was created in 1982 as the court having exclusive appellate jurisdiction over appeals from a final decision of a district court "if the jurisdiction of that court was based on an action arising under federal patent law." Before the Federal Circuit was created, appeals went to the regional circuits (as they do for most cases), where the likelihood of success could vary significantly among circuits. Some circuits had a reputation for holding patents invalid much more often than other circuits. The Federal Circuit was supposed to bring uniformity to patent law.

• Illinois Supreme Court Rules Tort Claims Not Necessarily Barred By Illinois Human Rights Act's Exclusivity Provisions ( December 1997 )
  Matkov Salzman

  Reversing an appellate court decision, the Illinois Supreme Court recently ruled that employees may litigate indepe.