Q: When does a lawyer's ordinary negligence, judged in hindsight by the client's enemy, constitute actual fraud?
A: When the Federal Circuit is applying the "inequitable conduct" doctrine against patent prosecutors.
Over at Patently-O (one of the great topic-specific law blogs) here's news of an amicus brief by IP profs asking the Federal Circuit to stop the insanity. (Disclaimer: David Hricik, one of our own, is on the brief, as are profs I know and respect like Lisa Dolak, Bill Gallagher, and Michael Risch. As long as I'm on the topic, it's worth mentioning that among Bill's many accomplishments, it's my understanding that he is the world's leading authority on intellectual property and bobblehead dolls. No joke.)
