Here is a report on recent news and commentary related to the Federal Circuit and its cases. Today’s report highlights:
- an article about Intel “doubl[ing] down on its Federal Circuit bid to ax a $2.18 billion jury verdict against it”;
- a blog post about a Patent Trial and Appeal Board judge withdrawing from an inter partes review proceeding; and
- another article about the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office making trademark applications related to green technology and climate change eligible for reduced fees.
Jasmin Jackson wrote an article for Law360 about Intel “doubl[ing] down on its Federal Circuit bid to ax a $2.18 billion jury verdict against it.” Jackson reported how “Intel Corp.’s . . . reply brief fired back at a November response by VLSI Technology LLC, which had sought to protect the 2021 seven-figure infringement verdict.” Jackson explained how Intel argues the large judgement in the case, VLSI Technology LLC. v. Intel Corp., was “’oversized’” and was supported only by “insubstantial evidence.”
Eileen McDermott authored a blog post for IPWatchdog about a Patent Trial and Appeal Board judge withdrawing from an inter partes review (IPR) proceeding. McDermott summarized how Centripetal filed a motion “argu[ing] that Administrative Patent Judge (APJ) Brian McNamara created at least the appearance of actual bias in failing to provide ‘notice, divestiture, or any apparent attempt to recuse’ himself from proceedings involving Cisco despite owning Cisco stock and being ‘paid a significant amount of money . . . from one of Cisco’s lobbyist law firms.’” McDermott reported that, although “McNamara claimed that Centripetal’s allegations were ‘without merit,’” McNamara decided to withdraw.
Riddhi Setty wrote an article about how the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is making trademark “applications related to green technology and climate change . . . eligible for reduced application fees.” Relatedly, Setty reported how “[t]he office has added 75 climate and green-tech related terms to its Trademark ID Manual,” including “’biomethane, research and development in the field of wind energy, and treatment of captured landfill gas.’” Setty explained how the fee reduction is part of the PTO’s goal of “addressing the role of intellectual property in combating climate change.”