68 Am. U. L. Rev. 1095 (2019).

* Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.  These thoughts were first presented in the form of a speech delivered to the New York University Civil Jury Project and later revised for a presentation to the American Intellectual Property Law Association.  This is an expanded—and more detailed—version of these earlier remarks. As with all work product coming from my chambers, I am grateful to my law clerks for their assistance in helping me to articulate my thoughts on this topic, and to garner support for them. Because this was a work that developed and changed over time, beginning as a speech and ending up as this Foreword, I need to thank law clerks from two different terms.  They are Taylor W. King (2016–2017) and Eric D. Dunn (2018–2019).

Many members of this court, me included, have written forewords for this issue of the American University Law Review.  We should, given this issue’s regular focus on the work of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the consistently high quality of the issue’s content.  I applaud the Law Review for making publication of this journal issue an enduring priority, and I commend all who have had a hand in making it happen.

Previous forewords from my colleagues and I have focused on the history, formation, and mission of the Federal Circuit, on changes and challenges it has faced over the years, and on suggestions or concerns for its future. This year, I want to shift focus. I want to take this opportunity—this bully pulpit—to address a topic that is important to me:  the fact that patent cases are being used as a vehicle to criticize and chip away at our Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial.  I am troubled by this trend and believe we all should be concerned about it—gravely so.