FedCircuitBlog

• 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.  

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• Federal Circuit Judge Newman Calls for Overhaul of Patent Law – Judge Newman advocated for patent law reform at an intellectual property conference on Friday.
• Federal Circuit Will Not Second-Guess IPR Institution Denials – The Federal Circuit confirmed its stance on refusing to review denials of inter partes review through a number of orders this week.
• Federal Circuit Grants Apple Petition for Writ of Mandamus to Transfer Uniloc Suit – Uniloc’s case against Apple will continue in California after the Federal Circuit issued a writ of mandamus directing the Western District of Texas to transfer the case.

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• USPTO Says Interested Party Rulings Aren’t ‘Shenanigans’ – The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office defended against accusations that the agency engaged in “shenanigans” when it did not require Google to be named as an interested party during a review of a mobile website patent.
• Guitar Pedalboard Patent Sent for New PTAB Review by Fed. Cir. – The Federal Circuit ruled on Monday that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board erred when the board analyzed a guitar pedalboard patent and rejected an earlier electrical relay patent as analogous prior art.
• Heart Monitor Maker Asks High Court to Clear Eligibility Muddle – InfoBionic Inc. suggests that a Supreme Court review of its case involving a dispute over a cardiac monitoring patent could provide clarity around which inventions are eligible for patents.

Here’s the latest.

• Investors Eye Patents After ‘Extraordinary’ Damage Awards Run – The past year has seen several large damages awards in patent infringement cases but the Federal Circuit has overturned some of the larger awards.
• Federal Circuit Limits Venue for Hatch-Waxman Cases – The Federal Circuit ruled that venue was only proper in judicial districts sufficiently related to the submission of an abbreviated new drug application (“ANDA”) and not where a generic drug could be distributed.
• Fed. Circ. Mulls Fate Of Wi-Fi Co.’s $8M Infringement Verdict – Oral arguments before the Federal Circuit took place on Friday for SIMO Holdings Inc. v. Hong Kong uCloudlink Network Technology Ltd. reviewing a jury verdict of uCloudlink’s willful infringement.

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• Fed. Circ. Asked To Keep Movie Theater IP Suit In Texas – Arguing that the case should stay in Texas, Intertrust Technologies Corp. asks the Federal Circuit to reject a petition from Regal Cinemas, AMC, and Cinemark to transfer the lawsuit to California.
• Nike Golf Club Patent Dispute Do-Over Weighed by Fed. Cir. Panel – Saso Golf, Inc. urges a Federal Circuit panel to send its patent infringement case back down to the lower court and assign the case to a new a judge, even though the original suit was filed twelve years ago.
• Fed. Circ. Affirms Chevron Loss In PTAB Interference – A split Federal Circuit found that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board correctly construed a key term to find that the University of Wyoming Research Corporation was entitled to a patent involving a method for analyzing crude oil in an interference proceeding against Chevron.

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• Three Damages Questions for the Supreme Court – Cochlear Corp. petitioned the Supreme Court to review the Federal Circuit’s damages decision and recently received an amicus brief in support.
• Threshold Issues, Misdirected Lawyering, and a Frustrated Federal Circuit – Earlier this October, the Federal Circuit remanded AntennaSys, Inc., v. AQYR Technologies, Inc. to resolve the claim construction issues left undecided by the lower court and expressing their disdain towards unhelpful arguments from both parties.
• Apple Hit With $503M Verdict In VirnetX Patent Retrial – After the Federal Circuit vacated the damages award, on remand, the lower court jury awarded similar damages against Apple.

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• Wrong case, right result, Fed Circuit holds in trademark win for Sprouts Farmers Market – The Federal Circuit concluded that the TTAB correctly determined that a challenger to Corcamore, LLC’s registration for the mark SPROUTS had standing, despite the fact that the TTAB applied the incorrect legal standard.
• USPTO Sees ‘Unprecedented Growth’ In AI Patent Apps – On Tuesday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a report recognizing the surge of AI-related patent applications.
• Trademark Office Issues Guidance for Post-Booking.com World – Although the Supreme Court rejected the USPTO’s bright-line rule against generic.com, applicants still have to establish that the mark holds distinct meaning to consumers.

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• Federal Circuit to district court: Show Us Your Work on Section 101 – The Federal Circuit reversed a decision from the District of Delaware for a lack of reasoning supporting the invalidation of patent claims.
• No Pause on American Axle Case for Coming Supreme Court Petition – American Axle did not persuade the Federal Circuit to stay its case in American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc. v. Neapco Holdings LLC, but Judge Moore took the opportunity to ask for guidance from the Supreme Court on patentability.
• Determining the Likelihood that an AI Patent Application Will Be Allowed at the USPTO – The USPTO is adapting to increased interest in artificial intelligence, but decisions from the Federal Circuit and Supreme Court have caused a rise in rejections in the field.

Here’s the latest.

• Fed. Circ. Ruling Is Troubling For Generic Drug Manufacturers – In a 2-1 decision, the Federal Circuit issued an opinion addressing the role of skinny labels in an induced infringement analysis.
• Work History Tool Properly Held Ineligible for Patent Protection – The Federal Circuit issued a nonprecedential opinion on Monday affirming a district court decision that an invention directed at a method for verifying work history is too abstract to patent.
• Fed. Circ. Urged To Undo Ugg’s $450K Trademark Win – An Australian apparel company argued on Monday that the lower court used the wrong legal test in finding that “ugg” is not a generic word for a kind of sheepskin boot.

Here’s the latest.