92
Opinion of the Court
by resolving the initial complaint brought by the patentee.12
The Federal Circuit has concluded that in such cases the declaratory judgment is "moot" in a jurisdictional sense, a conclusion that it considers dictated by two of our earlier opinions, Electrical Fittings Corp. v. Thomas & Betts Co., 307 U. S. 241 (1939), and Altvater v. Freeman, 319 U. S. 359 (1943).13
We therefore begin with a comment on those two cases.
12 That the holdings of Vieau v. Japex, Inc., 823 F. 2d 1510 (CA Fed. 1987), and Fonar Corp. v. Johnson & Johnson, 821 F. 2d 627 (CA Fed. 1987), can be said to have developed into a uniform practice or rule is made clear by the regularity with which they have been applied. See Shat-R-Shield, Inc. v. Trojan, Inc., 1992 U. S. App. LEXIS 9860, *7, judgt. order reported at 968 F. 2d 1226 (CA Fed.) (nonprecedential), cert. denied, 506 U. S. 870 (1992); Winner Int'l Corp. v. Wolo Mfg. Corp., 905 F. 2d 375, 377 (CA Fed. 1990); Wilson Sporting Goods Co. v. David Geoffrey & Associates, 904 F. 2d 677, 686 (CA Fed. 1990); Neville Chemical Co. v. Resinall Corp., 1990 U. S. App. LEXIS 16549, judgt. order reported at 915 F. 2d 1584 (CA Fed. 1990) (nonprecedential); Freeman v. Minnesota Mining and Mfg. Co., 13 USPQ 2d 1250, judgt. order reported at 884 F. 2d 1398 (CA Fed. 1989) (nonprecedential), cert. denied, 494 U. S. 1070 (1990); Senmed, Inc. v. Richard-Allan Medical Industries, Inc., 888 F. 2d 815, 817 (CA Fed. 1989); Environmental Instruments, Inc. v. Sutron Corp., 877 F. 2d 1561, 1566 (CA Fed. 1989); Julien v. Zeringue, 864 F. 2d 1569, 1571 (CA Fed. 1989); Morton Thiokol, Inc. v. Argus Chemical Corp., 11 USPQ 2d 1152, judgt. order reported at 873 F. 2d 1451 (CA Fed. 1989) (nonprecedential); Pfaff v. Wells Electronic, Inc., 12 USPQ 2d 1158, judgt. order reported at 884 F. 2d 1399 (CA Fed. 1989) (nonprecedential); Specialized Electronics Corp. v. Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc., 12 USPQ 2d 1918, judgt. order reported at 884 F. 2d 1397 (CA Fed. 1989) (nonprecedential); Sun-Tek Industries, Inc. v. Kennedy Sky Lites, Inc., 848 F. 2d 179, 183 (CA Fed. 1988), cert. denied, 488 U. S. 1009 (1989); Advance Transformer Co. v. Levinson, 837 F. 2d 1081, 1084 (CA Fed. 1988); Penn-walt Corp. v. Durand-Wayland, Inc., 833 F. 2d 931, 939 (CA Fed. 1987) (en banc); Perini America, Inc. v. Paper Converting Machine Co., 832 F. 2d 581, 584, n. 1 (CA Fed. 1987). In only one published opinion after 1987, Dana Corp. v. IPC Ltd. Partnership, 860 F. 2d 415 (CA Fed. 1988), did the court address the District Court's validity determination without reaching the issue of infringement, but it did so without referring to Vieau or Fonar.
13 See Vieau, 823 F. 2d, at 1518-1519 (Bennett, J., concurring); Fonar, 821 F. 2d, at 634.
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