Sharon Prost
2001 - Present
23
Sharon Prost is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. She joined the court in 2001 after being nominated by President George W. Bush (R). From 2014 to 2021, Prost served as the chief judge of the court.[1][2]
Education
Prost graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor's degree in 1973, and later obtained an MBA from George Washington University in 1975. Prost also graduated from American University's Washington School of Law with her J.D. in 1979. She went on to obtain an L.L.M. from the George Washington University Law School in 1984.[1]
Professional career
- 1993-2001: Minority chief counsel, deputy chief counsel and chief counsel, United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
- 1989-1993: Chief labor counsel, U.S. Senate
- 1984-1989: Assistant, associate and acting solicitor, National Labor Relations Board
- 1983-1984: Attorney, U.S. Department of the Treasury
- 1980-1983: Field attorney, Federal Labor Relations Authority
- 1976-1980: Specialist and auditor, General Accounting Office
- 1973-1976: Labor relations specialist, U.S. Civil Service Commission[1]
Judicial career
Federal Circuit
 |
| Nominee Information |
| Name: Sharon Prost |
| Court: Federal Circuit |
| Progress |
| Confirmed 123 days after nomination. |
 Nominated: May 21, 2001
|
| ABA Rating: Majority Qualified, Minority Not Qualified
|
| Questionnaire: |
| Hearing: August 27, 2001
|
| Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript |
| QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| Reported: September 6, 2001
|
| Confirmed: September 21, 2001
|
| Vote: 97-0
|
Prost was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit by President George W. Bush on May 21, 2001, to a seat vacated by Sheldon Plager. The American Bar Association rated Prost as Majority Qualified, Minority Not Qualified.[3] Hearings on her nomination were held in the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on August 27, 2001, and her nomination was reported by U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), on September 6, 2001. The Senate confirmed Prost's nomination by a vote of 97-0 on September 21, 2001.[4]
Noteworthy cases
Jury award against Apple for patent infringement overturned (2014)
VirnetX, a patent licensor, sued Apple, Inc., claiming Apple had infringed on four of its patents dealing with internet security in its FaceTime app used on most of its products. A jury found in favor of VirnetX and awarded the company $368 million in damages. Apple appealed the ruling and, on September 16, 2014, a two-judge panel for the Federal Circuit found that the jury based its award determination on faulty jury instructions. As a result, the appellate court ordered a new trial.
Prost wrote for the panel. She stated that "the law [required] patentees to apportion the royalty down to a reasonable estimate of the value of its claimed technology, or else establish that its patented technology drove demand for the entire product."[5]
VirnetX had provided an expert at trial who explained what the royalties should have been for the licensing of the patents at issue. Prost said that the expert, and the jury instructions, erred when they valued the royalties based on the total number of Apple products sold, as opposed to the value of the patent technology to each Apple product.
Articles:
See also
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Judge Prost's biography from the Federal Judicial Center
- Judge Prost's biography from the Federal Circuit's website
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Federal Judicial Center, "Prost, Sharon," accessed May 24, 2021
- ↑ United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, "Announcements: Chief Judge Randall R. Rader to Step Down as Chief Judge on May 30, 2014"
- ↑ American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III judicial nominees, 107th Congress," accessed May 24, 2016
- ↑ United States Congress, "PN 886 - Sharon Prost - The Judiciary," accessed May 24, 2016
- ↑ Reuters, “U.S. court throws out VirnetX $368 million patent award vs Apple,” September 16, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit 2001-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Active judges |
Chief Judge: Kimberly Moore • Leonard Stark • Sharon Prost • Pauline Newman • Alan Lourie • Timothy Dyk • Jimmie V. Reyna • Richard Gary Taranto • Raymond Chen • Todd Hughes • Kara Farnandez Stoll • Tiffany Cunningham | ||
| Senior judges |
Alvin Schall • Haldane Mayer • Richard Linn • William Bryson • S. Jay Plager • Raymond Clevenger • Evan Wallach • | ||
| Former judges | Kathleen M. O'Malley • Paul Michel • Randall Rader • Arthur Gajarsa • Daniel Friedman • Glenn Archer • James Almond • Jean Bissell • Phillip Baldwin • Marion Bennett • Arnold Cowen • Oscar Davis • Shiro Kashiwa • Don Laramore • Howard Markey • Jack Miller • Philip Nichols • Helen Nies • Giles Rich • Byron Skelton • Edward Samuel Smith • | ||
| Former Chief judges |
Paul Michel • Sharon Prost • Haldane Mayer • Glenn Archer • Howard Markey • Helen Nies • | ||
