Here is an update on recent en banc activity in patent cases at the Federal Circuit. Highlights include new petitions in two cases raising the same question related to claim construction. Additionally, the court denied petitions for en banc rehearing in two cases raising questions about eligibility and enablement of prior art. Here are the details.
New Petitions
Since our last update, there are two new petitions filed in separate appeals involving the same parties.
In both Applications in Internet Time, LLC v. Salesforce, Inc. (I) and Applications in Internet Time, LLC v. Salesforce, Inc. (II), Salesforce raised the following question:
- “Whether a patent’s specification limits claims so as to require a particular feature when the specification (1) disparages prior art for omitting that feature, (2) describes ‘the invention’ as containing that feature, and (3) discloses only a single embodiment comprising that feature and does not illustrate or describe any alternative to that feature.”
Denials
Since our last update, the Federal Circuit denied two petitions:
- Contour IP Holding LLC v. GoPro, Inc. (eligibility)
- Converter Manufacturing, LLC v. Tekni-Plex, Inc. (enablement of prior art)