Who Decides When Construction Is Needed? Comcast Seeks Supreme Court Review of O2 Micro's Limits

"Comcast has asked the Supreme Court to review whether the Federal Circuit violated fundamental principles of party presentation when it held that a district court "legally erred" by not construing patent claim terms that the patentee had successfully argued required no construction. The petition in Comcast Cable Communications, LLC v. WhereverTV, Inc., No. 25-___ (filed Jan. 2026), frames the issue as a conflict between the Federal Circuit's O2 Micro doctrine and the Supreme Court's recent reaffirmations of adversarial limits on judicial power."

"At its core, the case presents a doctrinally neutral question: when a party deliberately waives an issue before the district court, can the appellate court override that strategic choice and decide the issue anyway?"

Comcast asked the Supreme Court to determine whether the Federal Circuit violated party-presentation principles by finding that a district court "legally erred" when it declined to construe patent claim terms the patentee had successfully argued required no construction. The petition in Comcast Cable Communications, LLC v. WhereverTV, Inc., No. 25-___ (filed Jan. 2026) frames the dispute as a conflict between the Federal Circuit's O2 Micro doctrine and the Supreme Court's recent reaffirmations of adversarial limits on judicial power. The central legal question asks whether an appellate court may disregard a party's deliberate waiver and decide an issue the party intentionally relinquished.

Read at Patently-O