Chief judge on U.S. patent court steps down from lead role

By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. patent court's chief judge stepped down from his leadership role on Friday after a newspaper report said he had to recuse himself from two cases because of an email he sent praising a lawyer who appears before the court. Judge Randall Rader will remain on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, but he will be replaced as chief judge by Judge Sharon Prost at the end of May, the court said on its website. The court did not explain why Rader resigned before his seven-year term as chief judge, which is a mainly administrative role, was due to end in 2017. On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Rader had recused himself from two patent cases because of concerns about impartiality.



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