Federal Circuit Orders Rehearing En Banc on Question of Fee Award to USPTO Director

The case is Nantkwest Inc. v. Matal (available here).  As I explained in my blog post on the panel opinion from this past June:

The examiner and the PTAB rejected the inventor's patent application on nonobviousness grounds, and rather than immediately appealing to the Federal Circuit (which is one option under these circumstances) the applicant initiated a lawsuit against the director in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (which is another, less commonly invoked, option).  The district court ruled in favor of the director, and in May the Federal Circuit affirmed (here).  The district court also awarded the director expert witness fees but denied a request for attorney's fees. On appeal of this matter, the Federal Circuit (in an opinion by Chief Judge Prost) concludes that the relevant statute--which in the present context is not 35 U.S.C. § 285, but rather 35 U.S.C. § 145--requires the court to award both expert and attorneys' fees--and, although it isn't at issue in this case, since the director won--the rule applies regardless of outcome. 

The per curiam order issued this morning states:

This case was argued before a panel of three judges on February 9, 2017. A sua sponte request for a poll on whether to reconsider this case was made. A poll was conducted and a majority of the judges who are in regular active service voted for sua sponte en banc consideration.

Accordingly,

IT IS ORDERED THAT:

(1) The panel opinion of June 23, 2017 is vacated, and the appeal is reinstated.

(2) This case will be heard en banc sua sponte under 28 U.S.C. § 46 and Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 35(a). The court en banc shall consist of all circuit judges in regular active service who are not recused or disqualified.

(3) The parties are requested to file new briefs. The briefs should address the following issue:

Did the panel in NantKwest, Inc. v. Matal, 860 F.3d 1352 (Fed. Cir. 2017) correctly determine that 35 U.S.C. § 145’s “[a]ll the expenses of the proceedings” provision authorizes an award of the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s attorneys’ fees? . . .

I don't know off the top of my head how many actions are filed annually under 35 U.S.C. § 145, but I suspect it isn't many, so whatever the outcome is here won't affect a whole lot of cases--though a result consistent with the panel opinion in June presumably would reduce that number to an even smaller amount.