Malpractice Suit Based on Lost Patent Rights Can't Be Litigated in California State Courts

摘要

A malpractice action alleging that an attorney flubbed a patent application and caused the client to lose valuable patent rights belonged in federal court and cannot be pursued in a state tribunal, the California Court of Appeal, Sixth District, ruled March 29 (Landmark Screens LLC v. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Cal. Ct. App. 6th Dist., No. H033285, 3/29/10). The court ruled that the action was a federal case because proof of the state law-based malpractice cause of action necessarily required analyzing substantial patent questions embedded in the elements of causation and damages.