Earlier this month the Federal Circuit also released its opinion in AliveCor, Inc. v. International Trade Commission, a patent case that we have been following because it attracted several amicus briefs. In this case, the Federal Circuit was asked to review a judgment of the International Trade Commission in a patent infringement case that resulted in a limited exclusion order restricting importation of Apple’s watch products. In a per curium opinion issued by a panel including Judges Hughes, Linn, and Stark, however, the Federal Circuit vacated the Commission’s decision and remanded the case with instructions to dismiss the case as moot. This is our opinion summary.
In the opinion, the Federal Circuit presented the procedural background related to the case:
AliveCor, Inc. . . . owns [several patents], which each relate to systems and methods for measuring and analyzing physiological data to detect cardiac arrhythmias. On May 26, 2021, the International Trade Commission (‘Commission’) instituted an investigation in response to AliveCor’s allegations that Apple Inc. . . . violated 19 U.S.C. § 1337 by importing or selling Apple Watch products incorporating features that infringe the Asserted Patents. An administrative law judge (‘ALJ’) issued an Initial Determination finding that Apple had violated Section 377 by infringing the ’941 and ’731 patents, but finding no violation as to the ’499 patent. The Commission, reviewing the ALJ’s decision, reached the same conclusion and issued a limited exclusion order restricting importation of Apple’s watch products. AliveCor appealed the Commission’s final decision, and Apple cross-appealed. The validity of the Asserted Patents was also challenged in parallel inter partes review proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board . . . . The Board found all claims of each Asserted Patent invalid, and we have now affirmed those decisions.
In the panel’s short opinion, it explained that, because it “affirmed the Board’s finding of unpatentability for each Asserted Patent, the Commission’s investigation is moot.” As a result, the panel “vacate[d] the Commission’s decision and remand[ed] with instructions to dismiss the case as moot.”
We posted separately on the Federal Circuit’s affirmance of the Board’s finding of unpatentability.