In a dispute that provides a case study in patent litigation after the enactment of the America Invents Act, lawyers for a patent holder suing major tech firms are fighting to get cases that were sent to the defendants' home jurisdictions transferred back to the Eastern District of Texas—but this time designated as multidistrict litigation.

Two tech-savvy federal judges are sending different messages on the standard for permanent injunctions in patent cases. While Judge Lucy Koh denied Apple's request for a ban on Samsung sales in Decemer, on Thursday Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal entered a permanent injunction sought by Brocade against rival A10 Networks.

Four law firms that submitted a "grossly inflated" $2.7 million fee request after winning $12,500 for their client should go away empty-handed, a judge has ruled. U.S. District Court Joanna Seybert condemned the fee application submitted by real estate investor Robert Toussie's attorneys, including $2.65 million for Chadbourne & Parke, as "outrageously excessive" and done in "bad faith."

The worst fears of campaign finance reformers played out in real time on Tuesday in the U.S. Supreme Court as a majority of justices appeared inclined to further erode the regulation of money in elections.