Federal Circuit dismisses ParkerVision appeal against Qualcomm: Rule 54(b) does not allow partial final judgment on some claims of one patent

Context: ParkerVision, a Florida-based wireless technology company, and Qualcomm have been in court for 15 years. A $173 million jury verdict in ParkerVision’s first case, filed in 2011, was overturned by the district court, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed in 2015. ParkerVision then sued again in 2014 in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida over U.S. Patent No. 7,218,907 (“Method and circuit for down-converting a signal”) and U.S. Patent No. 6,091,940 (“Method and system for frequency up-conversion”). In September 2024, the Federal Circuit vacated summary judgment of non-infringement in that second case and sent it back for claim construction and a fresh look at the exclusion of ParkerVision’s experts. After the district court’s new claim constructions, the parties stipulated that Qualcomm’s products do not infringe the receiver claims. ParkerVision then asked for a Rule 54(b) partial final judgment so it could appeal immediately, and the district court granted that on October 2, 2025, staying the transmitter claims (October 6, 2025, ParkerVision, press release). ParkerVision appealed that judgment to the Federal Circuit.