Mealey's Patents
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February 14, 2025
Judge: Infringement Claims, Invalidity Counterclaims About Eye Medication All Fail
WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal judge said in unsealed finding of facts and conclusions of law that a plaintiff biopharmaceutical company failed to support its argument that a defendant company infringed on its patented eye medication product; the judge also found, though, that the defendant company failed to show that claims of the patents at issue were invalid.
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February 13, 2025
Federal Circuit To PTAB: Rethink If Touch Device Patent Claims Are Obvious
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) applied an incorrect, overly narrow claim construction in an inter partes review (IPR) proceeding brought by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and its American counterpart against the holder of a patent related to interactive device screens, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Feb. 12.
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February 13, 2025
Amici To High Court: DISH Entitled To Attorney Fees In Patent Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — An advocacy group for patent holders tells the U.S. Supreme Court in an amicus curiae brief that DISH Network LLC was entitled to attorney fees it incurred in a trial in front of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board while also litigating related claims in a Delaware federal court; the group echoes the company’s argument that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals created a circuit split in affirming the denial of fees.
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February 12, 2025
Federal Circuit Affirms Rejection Of Blockchain Patent Application
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 11 affirmed a U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decision to reject a man’s patent application regarding blockchain technology, agreeing with the PTAB that his claims were indefinite and directed at unpatentable material.
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February 11, 2025
Federal Circuit: District Court Patent Claims Not Estopped By PTAB Findings
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Delaware federal judge was wrong to dismiss a patent infringement claim against Groupon Inc., a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Feb. 10; the panel said that prior decisions of the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) cannot estop a patent holder from asserting infringement arguments based on other patent claims that were not considered by the board.
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February 11, 2025
Federal Circuit: New Judge Needed In Patent Row After Expert Testimony Issues
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ordered a new trial on patent infringement to be held in front of a different judge in a North Carolina federal court, holding that the judge who previously oversaw a patent dispute between two biomedical companies repeatedly made statements that could call into question his appearance of fairness in the case.
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February 10, 2025
Importing Of Albumin Products Infringed On Patent, Federal Circuit Affirms
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Trade Commission (ITC) was right to find that a biotechnology company’s act of importing products that contain albumin violated another company’s patent rights, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Feb. 7.
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February 07, 2025
‘Harmless’ Claim Error Doesn’t Affect Obviousness Finding, Federal Circuit Says
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) erred in its construction of claims in a patent dispute between two computer chip companies, but the error was “harmless,” a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Feb. 6.
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February 06, 2025
Patent Licenser To High Court: Federal Circuit Ignores Factual Disputes In Cases
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patent licensing company told the U.S. Supreme Court in a recently docketed petition for a writ of certiorari that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ignored a genuine dispute of facts in its case with Amazon companies, which it says is part of a broader trend of the appeals court resolving factual disputes without a jury.
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February 04, 2025
Federal Circuit Again Affirms Obviousness In Check Depositing Patent Fight
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Days after finding that the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) should have gone further in its findings of obviousness regarding electronic check depositing patents held by United Services Automobile Association (USAA), a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 3 affirmed PTAB’s findings of unpatentability of related patents held by the company.
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February 04, 2025
PTAB Didn’t Follow Step Claims In Telecoms Patent Dispute, Federal Circuit Finds
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a patent dispute among multiple telecommunications companies, the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) erred by failing to require that steps in a listed method be performed in order, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Feb. 3.
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February 04, 2025
Federal Circuit: Obviousness Finding In Check Patent Row Should’ve Gone Further
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Largely affirming but partly reversing findings from the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said in two related opinions that PTAB should have found that more claims in electronic banking patents held by the United Services Automobile Association (USAA) were unpatentable as obvious.
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January 31, 2025
Federal Circuit: Judge, Not PTAB, Correctly Construed Term In Patent Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in Texas did not err during claim construction in a patent dispute between two imaging product makers, a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, saying it agreed with the judge’s construction of the claim and that a construction of the same term by the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) was incorrect.
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January 31, 2025
Microsoft Denied Dismissal Of Patent Infringement Suit Over Network Software
AUSTIN, Texas — Microsoft Corp. was unsuccessful in its bid for an early exit from a patent infringement lawsuit, when a Texas federal judge found that the plaintiff sufficiently alleged that accused products of Microsoft’s use a “network device” and achieve “secure communications” to survive the defendant's dismissal motion.
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January 30, 2025
Federal Circuit Affirms Preliminary Injunctions Against Two Biosimilar Makers
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a pair of Jan. 29 opinions, a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a West Virginia federal judge’s decision to grant preliminary injunctions against two biosimilar manufacturers that barred them from marketing products that were biosimilars to an eye medication patented by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.; the panel rejected jurisdictional and validity arguments raised by the companies.
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January 30, 2025
Judge Finds Campbell, Supermarkets Infringed Soup Can Display Patents
CHICAGO — A retail display manufacturer provided “substantial evidence” that Campbell Soup Co. (now known as The Campbell’s Co.) and two supermarket chains directly infringed three soup can display racks, an Illinois federal judge ruled, granting summary judgment of direct infringement in the long-running case.
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January 29, 2025
In 4 Opinions, Federal Circuit Affirms Obviousness Of Tech Company’s Patents
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In four opinions, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held that all challenged claims in a tech company’s patents related to making gestures in front of a camera are unpatentable as obvious, affirming most findings from the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issued during inter partes review (IPR) and reversing one and affirming two decisions from PTAB issued during related ex parte examinations.
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January 29, 2025
Rejection Of Tire Sealant Patent As Indefinite Affirmed By Federal Circuit
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A pro se inventor whose patent application for a tire sealant apparatus was rejected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) as being indefinite was unsuccessful in his appeal to the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, where a panel found that the appellant failed to rebut an examiner’s finding that the proposed patent’s terms were indefinite.
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January 29, 2025
Federal Circuit Upholds IPR Decision In Samsung’s Favor On LED Patent
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found no error by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) in its conclusion, after conducting inter partes review (IPR), that a patent related to light-emitting diodes (LEDs) was invalid as obvious in light of prior art.
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January 28, 2025
No Error In PTAB Construction Of ‘Hardware Buffer,’ Federal Circuit Says
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a case appearing before the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for the second time, a panel said the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) on remand did not err in its construction of the phrase “hardware buffer” in a computer processor patent dispute between Qualcomm Inc. and Intel Corp.; the panel affirmed the PTAB’s holding that all claims in Qualcomm’s patent are unpatentable as obvious.
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January 28, 2025
Federal Circuit: No Error In PTAB’s ‘Cache Memory’ Construction
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) did not employ an unreasonable construction of the term “cache memory,” a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Jan. 27, affirming the board’s finding that a company’s patent was invalid as obvious in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings brought against it by streaming giant Netflix Inc.
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January 27, 2025
6th Circuit Agrees: No Royalties To Inventor After Patent’s Expiration
CINCINATTI — A federal judge in Michigan was right to find that a health care company owed no further royalties to the inventor of eye-test machines after the expiration of his patent, the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Jan. 24, saying that the parties agreed to a royalty rate based on use of the patent itself.
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January 27, 2025
Federal Circuit Reverses Most Noninfringement JMOLs In Packaging Patent Row
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in Delaware provided no rationale to support a decision to conditionally grant a new trial on damages in a patent dispute between two makers of food packaging materials, a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Jan. 24, vacating the new trial order.
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January 27, 2025
DISH To High Court: Federal Circuit Got Patent Act Fees Scope Wrong
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a petition for a writ of certiorari before the U.S. Supreme Court, DISH Network L.L.C. maintains its argument that a Delaware federal judge was wrong to find that it cannot recoup the attorney fees it incurred during a proceeding before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that was “voluntary” and “parallel” to the district court proceedings.
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January 24, 2025
Federal Circuit: PTAB Right To Find Lithium Battery Claims Obvious
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Jan. 23 said that the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) did not err in holding that multiple claims in a company’s patents relating to lithium-ion batteries were unpatentable as obvious.