Here is a report on recent news and commentary related to the Federal Circuit and its cases. Today’s report highlights the Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Apple Inc. v. California Institute of Technology and a recent petition for en banc rehearing by Prisua in Samsung Electronics America, Inc. v. Prisua Engineering Corp.
Jan Wolfe reported for Reuters that in Apple Inc. v. California Institute of Technology the Federal Circuit “on Thursday declined to rule invalid one of the patents underlying a $1.1 billion verdict the California Institute of Technology won against Apple Inc and Broadcom Inc,” and instead “affirmed a decision by an administrative patent court that upheld the validity of a Caltech patent challenged by Apple on obviousness grounds.” The Federal Circuit summarily affirmed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in the case.
At Law360, Dani Kass highlighted comments made by Prisua Engineering Corp. in its petition for rehearing in Samsung Electronics America, Inc. v. Prisua Engineering Corp. According to Kass, Prisua urged “the full Federal Circuit to reevaluate a panel’s decision ordering the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to address whether certain indefinite claims . . . are also obvious or anticipated, saying it will ‘generate endless, wasteful litigation.'” As explained by Kass, “Prisua said the Federal Circuit undermined ‘a fundamental principle of patent law’ by allowing claims to be compared to prior art without first being able to figure out what they mean.”