In May, we saw examples of how ND Cal judges apply the stricter pleading requirements of Twombly/Iqbal both to causes of action (such as claims for alleged breach of the GNU General Public License) and, unlike their sister districts in California, to affirmative defenses. A pair of decisions about patent local rule contentions (analyzed here and here) reminds us to keep an eye on how contentions fit into the overall progression of a case. In the perpetual dance between the district court and the Federal Circuit, one judge applied the Kessler doctrine, recently ruled to be alive and well, to bar further litigation over a product once found not to infringe, while another judge allowed a case to proceed for now despite the appellate court's seemingly conclusive statements about patent exhaustion.
Meanwhile, in state court, the California Court of Appeal made waves by holding that ideas can be entitled to trade secret protection. And on Capitol Hill, dreams of further patent reform were put on ice by Sen. Leahy's announcement that he was taking the patent bill off the Senate Judiciary Committee agenda.

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