FedCircuitBlog

This month we highlight two scholarly articles related to the Federal Circuit.

• A Balanced Consideration of the Federal Circuit’s Choice-of-Law Rule by Jennifer E. Sturiale
• Review of Recent Veterans Law Decisions of the Federal Circuit by Angela Drake, Yelena Duterte, and Stacey-Rae Simcox

Here are the details.

• Federal Circuit Says University Can’t Be Pulled Into Patent Suit – In Gensetix, Inc. v. Baylor College of Medicine, sovereign immunity protected a university from being an involuntary plaintiff in a patent suit, but the suit could still proceed without the patent owner.
• Moderna Loses Challenge to Arbutus Patent on Vaccine Technology – Moderna could appeal to the Federal Circuit after a loss that might create obstacles in developing a coronavirus vaccine.
• NFL Team Loses Race to the Trademark Office, but It Might Not Matter – Being first in line to trademark the Redskins’ new team name won’t matter without objective evidence of a bona fide intent to use the mark in commerce at the time of filing

Here’s the latest.

• Federal Circuit Won’t Undo Intel Wins – The Federal Circuit upheld PTAB rulings in Intel Corp. v. Alacritech, Inc., cementing victory for Intel and other tech companies.
• Flash-of-Genius as Evidence of Eligibility – Steve Morsa filed a new Supreme Court petition using the Court’s “flash of genius” argument to justify granting certiorari.
• Another Arthrex Petition – Arthrex filed its second petition, out of three total petitions for writ of certiorari, challenging the Federal Circuit’s decision in Arthrex, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew, Inc.

Here’s the latest.

This post summarizes recent activity at the Supreme Court in cases decided by the Federal Circuit.

• Steve Morsa submitted the only petition for writ of certiorari coming from the Federal Circuit this week in Morsa v. Iancu.
• For both Lea v. United States and LaTurner v. United States the government filed a singular brief in opposition opposing a writ for either petition.
• Lastly, two waivers of right to respond were submitted to the Supreme Court in both Thomas v. Iancu and Phazzer Electronics, Inc. v. Taser International, Inc.

Here are the details.

• Federal Circuit Affirms District Court’s Eligibility Analysis – In Packet Intelligence, LLC v. Netscout Systems, Inc., the court held NetScout willfully infringed Packet Intelligence’s patents, rejecting NetScout’s argument that the patents were directed toward an abstract idea.
• Nike and Adidas Escape Patent Claims Over Athletic-Shoe Soles – According to a Federal Circuit decision on July 16, the shoe companies did not infringe Akeva’s wear-reducing patent because the companies’ shoes do not have detachable soles.
• Patent invalidity claim is no cure for ITC’s import ban on grippy mugs – On July 16, the Federal Circuit ruled that a party cannot challenge a general ITC exclusion order barring importation of products for infringing a patent by claiming the patent is invalid.

Here’s the latest.

• U.S. Wrongly Linked 3 Steel Companies In Duty Probe – The U.S. Department of Commerce improperly tied steel companies together in an anti-dumping investigation, said the Federal Circuit.
• All Substantial Rights Deemed Test Informative – With the decision in Immunex Corp. v. Sandoz Inc., the Federal Circuit endorses the “all substantial rights” test for the first time.
• Section 315(a) Calls At Institution Cannot Be Reviewed – Finally, the Federal Circuit applied the recent Supreme Court decision in Thryv, Inc. v. Click-to-Call Techs to a Section 315(a) and (b) case.

Here’s the latest.

This post summarizes recent activity at the Supreme Court in cases decided by the Federal Circuit.

• The Supreme Court received one new petition for writ of certiorari this week in the patent case Duke University v. Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc.
• Both the Honorable Randall R. Rader and High 5 Games submitted two new amicus briefs in support of the petitioner to the Court in the petition The Chamberlain Group, Inc. v. Techtronic Industries Co.

Here are the details.

• Federal Circuit Denies Uniloc’s Motion to Seal Documents – In Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Apple, Inc., the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s no-seal order, with the exception of third party licensees who were promised confidentiality.
• Toyota Fails to Revive Patent on Fingerprint-Reducing Coating – On Friday, the Federal Circuit agreed with PTAB’s conclusion that Toyota’s patent for reducing fingerprints on touchscreens was invalid for obviousness in Toyota Motor Corp. v. Reactive Surfaces Ltd.
• Federal Circuit’s Ruling Could Make it Easier to Prove Infringement of SEPs – In Godo Kaisha IP Bridge I v. TCL Commc’n Tech. Holdings Ltd., the Federal Circuit seemed unconvinced by TCL’s oral argument against the district court’s finding that TCL infringed two IP Bridge patents.

Here’s the latest.

This morning, the Federal Circuit issued two nonprecedential opinions in patent cases, one nonprecedential opinion in a veterans case, one nonprecedential opinion in a Tucker Act case, and two nonprecedential Rule 36 judgments. Here are the introductions to the opinions and the judgments.

• Federal Circuit Keeps Expanding Appointments Decision – The Arthrex, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew, Inc. decision was broadened to also encompass ex parte appeals according to the Federal Circuit’s precedential ruling in In re Boloro Global Ltd. on Tuesday.
• BofA’s $173M Refund Suit Belongs In Claims Court – The Federal Circuit vacated and remanded Bank of America Corp. v. United States to the Court of Federal claims because the district court lacked standing under Section 1346(a)(1) of the U.S. Judicial Code.
• Fitbit Given Another Shot At Nixing Biometrics Patent – Fitbit, pursuant to the Federal Circuit’s precedential opinion in Fitbit, Inc. v. Valencell, Inc., was granted a second chance to invalidate all of Valencell’s claims because of an erroneous standing ruling by the PTAB.

Here’s the latest.