Is a Patent Claim a “Claim”? The Federal Circuit Considers Rule 54(b)’s Application to Separate Claims of a Single Patent

Under the final judgment rule, parties generally cannot appeal until the district court resolves the entire case. One exception is Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b). If a case “presents more than one claim for relief,” a district court may enter final judgment midway through the case on one or more resolved claims, so long as “there is no just reason for delay.”  Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b). For instance, a plaintiff may seek to appeal the dismissal on the pleadings of some of its claims while the district court proceeds to litigate the remaining claims. This is commonly called a “partial final judgment” as it resolves only some of the pending claims.

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