FedCircuitBlog

On Friday the Supreme Court granted the petition for certiorari in Minerva Surgical, Inc. v. Hologic, Inc., a patent infringement case decided by the Federal Circuit in April of last year. In this case, the petitioner asks the Court to abandon or limit the doctrine of assignor estoppel, which prevents a party who in the past assigned a patent from later contesting the patent’s validity. Here are the details.

• Federal Circuit Statistics – 2020 Edition – Jason Rantanen analyzes the data and trends in the cases heard and decided by the Federal Circuit this year.
• Gilead “Rewriting” History To Save $2.5B IP Win, Justices Told – Idenix Pharmaceuticals implored the Supreme Court to grant certiorari and reinstate the country’s largest patent verdict after the Federal Circuit reversed the lower court’s decision.
• What to Watch in 2021: IP Stakeholders Offer Predictions and Thoughts for the New Year – Several contributors shared their opinions on the state of intellectual property, the Federal Circuit, and the USPTO going forward into the new year.

Here’s the latest.

• Trademark Modernization Act Becomes Law: Establishes New Procedures to Remove Deadwood Registrations, Restores Presumption of Irreparable Harm, and Protects the Independence of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board – The Trademark Modernization Act was signed into law on Sunday as part of a COVID-19 relief and government spending bill entitled the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021.”
• One vet’s GI Bill fight could win benefits for millions of other students – A final decision from the Federal Circuit is expected soon, which may have an impact on students looking to enroll in college courses in the fall of 2021.

Here’s the latest.

• CAFC Upholds District Court Finding for Netflix Invalidating Adaptive Patent Under 101 – The Federal Circuit affirmed a district court’s finding that Adaptive Streaming Inc.’s patent claims were directed at an abstract idea and thus were invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 101.
• 3 Key Questions As Cleveland MLB Team Mulls New Name – On Monday, Major League Baseball team the Cleveland Indians announced that it is starting the process to change its name as teams continue to face pressure to drop their “disparaging monikers.”
• Employment Law and Patent Law Collide: Federal Circuit Rules that California’s Non-Compete Restrictions Also Limit the Scope of Patent and Invention Assignment Clauses – The Federal Circuit ruled that certain employment agreement provisions requiring former employees to assign their inventions to their employer after such employment ends are not permitted in California.

Here’s the latest.

• Fed. Circ. Again Says No State Sovereign Immunity In IPRs – In Board of Regents of the University of Texas System v. Baylor College of Medicine, the Federal Circuit held that plaintiffs can request inter partes reviews of state universities’ patents and sovereign immunity does not apply.
• Federal Circuit Tries to Wrap Its Arms Around Functional Biotech Patent Claims – The Federal Circuit heard oral arguments last Wednesday and focused on the application of the enablement requirement to Amgen’s patent covering therapeutic antibodies.
• Del. Chief Urges Creativity When Litigating Patent Eligibility – Chief Judge Leonard Stark addressed the resolution of patent eligibility issues within litigation during a panel discussion on Friday.

Here’s the latest.

• Google Ruling Yields Patent Prosecution Appeal Prep Lessons – Jason German explains some of the benefits of appealing directly to the Federal Circuit during patent prosecution.
• Intel Urges Federal Circuit to Stop Patent Trial Move To Waco – Intel hopes the Federal Circuit will prevent the company from returning to Waco, Texas for trial in January.

Here’s the latest.

• Federal Circuit Sheds Light on the Test for ‘Analogous Art’ in an IPR – Tom BenGera discusses the Federal Circuit’s recent opinion in Donner Technology, LLC v. Pro Stage Gear, LLC.
• Covered Business Method Threshold Review Is Not Appealable – The Federal Circuit recently held that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s determination that a patent qualifies for covered business method (CBM) review is not appealable.

Here’s the latest.

• Big Pharma to Face Off at Federal Circuit Oral Arguments Over Antibody Genus Patentability – A preview of an upcoming Federal Circuit case concerning enablement.
• No Patent? No Problem! The Federal Circuit Paves The Way For Non-Patent Owners To Sue Infringers – What happens in a patent lawsuit when not all of the parties that have an ownership interest in a patent are joined as plaintiffs?
• The Federal Circuit Tries To Demystify Venue in Hatch-Waxman Actions – In Valeant Pharms. N. Am. v. Mylan Pharms., the Federal Circuit attempted to clarify where “acts of infringement” for venue purposes under §1400(b) occur in Hatch-Waxman actions.

Here’s the latest.

• Printed Matter Is Patentable If It’s Functional, Not Just Communicative – Bard’s suit of patent infringement by AngioDynamics may continue after the Federal Circuit reversed the lower court’s finding of non-infringement and invalidity.
• Functional claiming in the aftermath of Williamson – Analyses of means plus function limitations have shifted more than anticipated in the past few years following the Federal Circuit’s decision in Williamson v. Citrix Online LLC.
• Federal Circuit Considers CBM Review Under Thryv on Remand from SCOTUS – The Federal Circuit affirmed in SIPCO, LLC v. Emerson Electric that the decision to institute a covered business method (“CBM”) review cannot be reviewed based on Supreme Court precedent.

Here’s the latest.

• Supreme Court Denies Patent Petitions on Arthrex, Eligibility – The U.S. Supreme Court denied petitions for certiorari in two cases coming out of the Federal Circuit: IYM Technologies LLC v. RPX Corporation and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. and WhitServe LLC v. Donuts Inc.
• Amgen, GSK Urge Justices To Allow Patents On Genus Claims – A trio of amicus briefs filed on Monday urge the Supreme Court to grant Merck’s petition for certiorari and ensure that companies are able to patent genus claims.
• COVID-19 Vaccine Leader Moderna “Not Aware of Any Significant Intellectual Property Impediments” in Development of its Vaccine Despite Mixed Results at PTAB – As global leaders in COVID-19 vaccine development receive promising results from their clinical trials, the focus turns to whether legal intellectual property obstacles may impede vaccine distribution.  

Here’s the latest.