FedCircuitBlog

Here is an update on recent en banc activity at the Federal Circuit in patent cases. Highlights include a new petition in a pro se patent case and two new invitations for responses in patent cases raising questions related to obviousness and reduction to practice. The court also denied a petition in a patent case raising questions related to construction of alleged means-plus-function limitations. Here are the details.

Here is an update on recent en banc activity at the Federal Circuit in patent cases. Highlights include two new petitions raising questions concerning actual reduction to practice and obviousness. The court also denied another petition raising a question related to obviousness. Here are the details.

Here is a report on recent news and commentary related to the Federal Circuit and its cases. Today’s report highlights:

• an article and a blog post discussing potential impact of the Supreme Court’s grant of certiorari in a trademark case decided by the Federal Circuit;
• a blog post highlighting “five tips for IPR practice” in light of the Federal Circuit’s ruling in a precedential case regarding inter partes review; and
• an article about the impact on attorney fee motions after the Federal Circuit’s decision in a patent case dealing with attorney fees and non-taxable costs under 35 U.S.C. § 285.

Late Friday and this morning, the Federal Circuit released three precedential opinions: two in related patent cases appealed from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and one in a veterans case appealed from the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. The Federal Circuit also released two nonprecedential orders dismissing appeals. Here are the introductions to the opinions and links to the dismissals.

This morning, the Federal Circuit released a precedential opinion in a patent case involving analysis of pre-AIA first-to-invent provisions. Notably, Judge Dyk dissented. The court also released a nonprecedential opinion in a case appealed from the Merit Systems Protection Board, along with a nonprecedential order dismissing a case. Here are the introductions to the opinions and a link to the order.

Here is a report on recent news and commentary related to the Federal Circuit and its cases. Today’s report highlights:

• a blog post about the U.S. Supreme Court asking the Solicitor General “to provide its views on [a] petition asking the High Court to clarify the proper application of estoppel in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings”;
• an article about the Federal Circuit rejecting a “claim that the U.S. Supreme Court has implicitly overruled key design patent validity tests”; and
• another article about the Federal Circuit’s recent en banc decision that “overturned an earlier decision that would have allowed veterans to receive up to an additional year of education.”

• Patenting Software-Related Inventions Is Getting Easier – Experts analyze Federal Circuit precedent and USPTO guidance to advance two recommendations for IP practitioners with regard to ensuring patent eligibility of inventions directed to software-related technologies.
• CAFC Reverses In-Part, Vacates In-Part PTAB Patentability Finding for Skin Cancer Detection Device – The Federal Circuit used an obviousness analysis and ruled that the PTAB erred in holding that patent claims directed at a skin cancer detection device were patentable.
• Federal Circuit Affirms District Court Decision Blocking Poultry Chiller Patent Suit Due to Equitable Intervening Rights – For the first time, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit addressed the “boundaries of the phrase ‘protection of investments’ in [35 U.S.C.] § 252”, which outlines the effect of reissued patents.

Here’s the latest.

This month we highlight two papers exploring research related to the Federal Circuit.

• Re-Thinking the “Motivation to Combine” in Patent Law by Joshua Lee Sohn.
• Ajinomoto v. ITC, the Doctrine of Equivalents, and Biomolecule Claim Limitations at the Federal Circuit by Professor Christopher M. Holman.