Phillip Benjamin Baldwin
How Judge Baldwin rules, drawn from 25 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Baldwin no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Baldwin
Phillip Benjamin Baldwin was a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, Judge Baldwin was commissioned to the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals on July 25, 1968 and reassigned to this court on October 1, 1982. Judge Baldwin assumed senior status on November 24, 1986 and retired on April 8, 1991.
How Judge Baldwin decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
He treated objective indicia as protection against hindsight in the patent-obviousness analysis.
“The ‘secondary’ considerations, when present, may assist the court in determining nonobviousness without falling prey to hindsight reasoning.”
He read a personnel settlement to require restoration of the employee’s position as nearly as practicable, including fees tied to enforcing one entitlement.
“In our view it would be unreasonable to read the agreement in a manner so narrow as to defeat the intent of the parties.”
Cautions
He strictly enforced the filing conditions attached to the government’s waiver of sovereign immunity.
“Conditions upon which the government consents to be sued must be strictly observed and are not subject to implied exceptions.”
He looked for evidence that the person with settlement authority had actually reviewed and approved the alleged agreement.
“The letter seems to identify Sun Studs’ president, Sohn, as the party with authority to execute a settlement agreement but notes that Sohn had not even seen the outline.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“AFFIRMED.”
“We affirm on the basis of that opinion.”
“AFFIRMED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Not applicable to this circuit-court record.
A historical record
Judge Baldwin no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.