Committee looks favorably on Biden nom for patent-heavy Fed Circ.

(Reuters) - Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee praised U.S. District Judge Leonard Stark's extensive experience with patent cases in a Wednesday hearing on his nomination to the Washington, D.C.-based Federal Circuit.

"Your unique experience as a district court judge in one of the busiest patent courts in America makes you the best possible nominee for this vacancy," Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware said of Stark's tenure at federal court in Delaware.

Republican senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee questioned Stark about his handling of cases involving qualified immunity, 2nd Amendment gun rights, and a Delaware town's ban of a religious display on public property, but none of the senators expressed opposition to his appointment to the patent-heavy appeals court.

Stark, 52, would be Biden's second appointee to the Federal Circuit after the U.S. Senate confirmed former Perkins Coie partner Tiffany Cunningham to the bench in July.

Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont criticized the Federal Circuit during the hearing for what he called "unpredictable" patent decisions. The court has been accused of handing down inconsistent rulings on patent eligibility in particular.

"I worry that sometimes in the Federal Circuit, more than other courts of appeals, the outcomes can be widely influenced based on who's on the panel," Leahy said. He asked if Stark would "work with others to make sure it has some predictability."

"If we don't have some idea of predictability, I think the Federal Circuit is not serving its purpose," Leahy said.

Stark said that if confirmed, he would work with the rest of the Federal Circuit to "carefully apply the law" and provide "as clear a guidance that I am capable of."

Stark would replace Kathleen O'Malley, who announced in July that she would retire next March.

Then-President Barack Obama nominated Stark to the Delaware bench in 2010, and he was the court's chief judge from 2014 until earlier this year. Stark was previously a magistrate judge at the court and worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in Delaware and as an associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

Stark also clerked for U.S. Circuit Judge Walter Stapleton of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He received three degrees from the University of Delaware and a law degree from Yale Law School, and was a Rhodes Scholar.

Read more:

Biden chooses Delaware judge Stark as second Fed Circ. nominee

Senate confirms Perkins Coie's Tiffany Cunningham to Federal Circuit