Jolt Digest, Harvard Journal of Law and Technology: Federal Appeals Court Affirms the Denial of A123’s Motion to Reopen

In Federal Appeals Court Affirms the Denial of A123’s Motion to Reopen, Stuart Tubis reports on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s affirmation of the judgment of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, which had denied A123’s motion to reopen and dismissed the court’s declaratory judgment against Hydro-Quebec (“HQ”). The Federal Circuit addressed three major issues in its decision. First, it held that “because HQ had acquired less than all substantial rights in the patents in suit, [the University of Texas (“UT”)] is a necessary party to A123’s declaratory judgment action.” Second, the court upheld UT’s sovereign immunity rights, despite the fact that UT had waived those rights in a related litigation in Texas. Finally, the court found that UT was both a necessary and an indispensable party to the action under Fed. R. Civ. P. 19, and that the district court properly dismissed the action due to UT’s absence in the litigation.