This morning the Federal Circuit released two precedential opinions and three nonprecedential opinions. The first precedential opinion affirms a judgment of the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and the second precedential opinion affirms a judgment of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. The first nonprecedential opinion affirms a judgment of the Merit Systems Protection Board, the second affirms a judgment of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, and the third vacates and remands a grant of a preliminary injunction by the Southern District of Ohio in a patent case. Here are the introductions to the opinions.
Lewis v. McDonough (Precedential)
Norah R. Lewis, Sr. appeals the December 12, 2022 decision of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (“Veterans Court”) in Lewis v. McDonough, No. 21-2201, 2022 WL 17576398 (Vet. App. Dec. 12, 2022). In that decision, the Veterans Court affirmed the March 22, 2021 decision of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (“Board”) that sustained the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) Regional Office (“RO”) reducing Mr. Lewis’s disability rating for post-traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”) from 70 percent to 30 percent. For the reasons stated below, we affirm.
Voice Tech Corp. v. Unified Patents, LLC (Precedential)
Unified Patents, LLC (Unified) petitioned the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Board) for inter partes review (IPR) of claims 1–8 of U.S. Patent No. 10,491,679 (’679 patent), owned by Voice Tech Corporation (Voice Tech). The Board determined all challenged claims to be unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. § 103. Voice Tech appeals. We affirm.
Murphy v. Office of Personnel Management (Nonprecedential)
Petitioners David L. Murphy and Karen Dahlstrom appeal a decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board (Board), which affirmed a decision of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to deny petitioners’ challenges to OPM’s recovery of overpayments to petitioners’ annuity benefits under the Federal Employees’ Retirement System (FERS). For the reasons discussed below, we affirm.
In Re C.E. Shepherd Company, L.P. (Nonprecedential)
C.E. Shepherd Company, L.P., (C.E. Shepherd) filed an application to register “MODULAR GABION SYSTEMS” as a trademark for “gabions of steel wire.” In re C.E. Shepherd Co., No. 88636382, 2022 WL 16757662, at *1 (T.T.A.B. Oct. 27, 2022) (Decision). A gabion is a metal cage that may be filled with rocks and used in constructing dams, embankments, and other structures. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (Board) affirmed the examiner’s rejection of the proposed mark because it is generic or alternatively merely descriptive without an acquired distinctiveness. Id. at *1, 25. C.E. Shepherd appeals the Board’s decision. We affirm because substantial evidence supports the Board’s findings.
Ridge Corp. v. Kirk National Lease Co. (Nonprecedential)
Kirk NationaLease Co., Truck & Trailer Parts Solutions Inc. (together, “KNL”), and Altum LLC (“Altum”) (collectively, “Appellants”) appeal the district court’s grant of Appellee Ridge Corp.’s (“Ridge”) motion for a preliminary injunction and denial of Altum’s motion to join Cold Chain, LLC (“Cold Chain”), the owner of United States Patent No. 9,151,084 (the “’084 patent”). For the reasons that follow, we vacate the district court’s denial of joinder and grant of preliminary injunctive relief, and we remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.