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Power Or Prudence: Which Is It?, Lisa A. Dolak
Power Or Prudence: Which Is It?, Lisa A. Dolak
ExpressO
In limiting patent litigants’ access to the declaratory judgment remedy, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has primarily invoked the “actual controversy” requirement imposed by the U.S. Constitution and the federal Declaratory Judgment Act. However, an examination of Federal Circuit decisions and those of the district courts reveals that the courts have often confused, or blurred the distinction between, constitutional requirements and the discretion the Act affords the federal courts to decline to exercise jurisdiction. Specifically, the courts often attribute constitutional significance to factors that instead bear on policy.
It is important to distinguish between jurisdictional limits …