Cite as: 508 U. S. 83 (1993)
Opinion of Scalia, J.
the patent is not moot, so that mootness was an impermissible ground for failing to decide validity. It seems to me that is enough for us to determine for the moment. If supposed mootness was in fact the only support for the Vieau policy, the Federal Circuit will abandon it and we will never see the issue again. If, however, there is some other support, we should hear about it from counsel before we reject the policy out of hand.
The issue of discretionary refusal (as opposed to the issue of mootness) is, it seems to me, more than usually deserving of adversary presentation. It involves the practicalities of the Federal Circuit's specialized patent jurisdiction, rather than matters of statutory or constitutional interpretation with which we are familiar. The opinions of the Federal Circuit do not discuss the practical benefits of the Vieau practice, nor can we find them discussed in the opinions of other courts, the Federal Circuit's jurisdiction over patent appeals being exclusive, see 28 U. S. C. § 1295(a). One must suspect, however, that some practical benefits exist, since despite the fragility of the "mootness" jurisdictional justification that we reject today, Vieau has enlisted the support of the experienced judges on the Federal Circuit—who denied en banc review despite criticism of Vieau in Chief Judge Nies' opinion dissenting from the denial, 967 F. 2d 1571 (1992), and in Judge Lourie's panel concurrence, 959 F. 2d 948, 952 (1992).
For these reasons, I concur in the judgment of the Court, and join all of its opinion except Part IV.
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