But the mortality rate of judges’ claims construction rulings

in patent cases, which are reviewed under the

is extraordinarily high on appeal, with the Federal Circuit

reversing at least part of the judge’s ruling approximately 40

percent of the time. But not in Marshall. Despite handling

more than 200 patent cases between them at a time, Judges

Ward and Davis have

— the closest either has come was a revision of one claim term

in one order by Judge Ward. This startling fact underscores the

expertise that the local judges have developed in these complex

cases. For better or worse, when the judge hands down his construction

of the terms in the patent, thus setting the metes and

bounds of the plaintiff ’s invention, the ruling is — at least thus

far — virtually bulletproof on appeal.

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