Cpc Patent Techs. Pty Ltd. v. Apple, Inc.

BACKGROUND

I. Statutory Framework

This case addresses how the construction of one federal statute impacts the application of a second federal statute. The first statute is 28 U.S.C. § 636, which describes the limited powers of federal magistrate judges. Section 636(b)(1) and its procedural counterpart, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 72, create a distinction between “non-dispositive” pretrial motions that may be referred to a magistrate judge for a decision and “case-dispositive motions” that “may be referred only for evidentiary hearing, proposed findings, and recommendations” to the district court unless the parties agree otherwise. Flam v. Flam, 788 F.3d 1043, 1046 (9th Cir. 2015) (quoting United States v. Reyna-Tapia, 328 F.3d 1114, 1118 (9th Cir. 2003) (en banc)). 1 When a magistrate judge rules on a non-dispositive matter, a district judge may “reconsider” that ruling only if it is “clearly erroneous or contrary to law.” 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A); accord Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(a). But when a magistrate judge issues a report and recommendation on a dispositive matter, a district judge must “make a de novo determination of those portions of the report or specified…