The Federal Circuit wrestled Friday with whether Micron Technology Inc.'s two lawsuits accusing Netlist Inc. of bad-faith patent assertion under an Idaho law belong in state or federal court.
Netlist urged a three-judge panel to correct a federal judge in Boise who ruled the cases should stay in state court and warned the court to be wary of letting state courts encroach on the federal courts traditional role in deciding patent disputes.
“Congress assigned exclusive jurisdiction to federal courts for patent issues and to this court,” said Jeff Lamken of MoloLamken, Netlist’s lawyer. Given that more than 30 states have ...