Authorities Cited: United States Patent and Trademark Office U.S. Patent No. 6,409,977 United States Code 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(1) 28 U.S.C. § 2201(a) Supreme Court 119 U.S. 47, 52 300 U.S. 227, 240 312 U.S. 270, 273 339 U.S. 667, 671-672 387 U.S. 136, 152 508 U.S. 83, 95 549 U.S. 118, 127 Circuit Courts 315 F.2d 87, 90 546 F.2d 748, 754-755 623 F.2d 1207, 1216 698 F.2d 157, 169-174 742 F.2d 1388, 1399 824 F.2d 953, 955-956 846 F.2d 731, 735-1443 863 F.2d 855, 857 895 F.2d 761, 764-765 929 F.2d 670, 673 939 F.2d 1558, 1563 940 F.2d 631, 634 982 F.2d 1520, 1525-1527 998 F.2d 931, 943 4 F.3d 975, 978 57 F.3d 1054, 1058 62 F.3d 1397, 1401 89 F.3d 807, 813-814 90 F.3d 1576, 1582 156 F.3d 1182, 1186 172 F.3d 852, 855 175 F.3d 985, 989 214 F.3d 1302, 1305 222 F.3d 958, 966 363 F.3d 1361, 1378-1381 387 F.3d 1352, 1355 395 F.3d 1324, 1332-1342 415 F.3d 1303, 1313-1317 441 F.3d 945, 950-951 476 F.3d 1321, 1327-1328 480 F.3d 1372, 1380-1383 482 F.3d 1330 488 F.3d 982, 992 495 F.3d 1340, 1343-1350 497 F.3d 1271 501 F.3d 1364 507 F.3d 1340, 1348