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Mealey's Patents

  • March 25, 2019

    Patent Owner Wins Trebled Damages, Fee Award In California

    SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge on March 22 tripled a $865,173 jury verdict for patent infringement in an order that granted a request for enhanced damages in view of a defendant’s willfulness (Spectrum Laboratories LLC v. Dr. Greens Inc., et al., No. 11-638, S.D. Calif., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48316).

  • March 25, 2019

    Board Rejection Of Patent Claims Affirmed By Federal Circuit Panel

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a March 22 nonprecedential decision, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that a patented urine-deflecting device that attaches to the underside of a toilet seat would have been obvious to a person of skill in the art (POSITA) (In re:  Conrad, No. 19-1659, Fed. Cir.).

  • March 22, 2019

    With Texas Trial Looming, Patent Owner Tells Board To Reconsider Review

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a March 20 filing with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, a patent owner urges the board to revisit its recent decision to institute inter partes review (IPR), citing a planned May 2019 trial in Texas federal court (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. v. Immersion Corp., No. IPR2018-01499, PTAB).

  • March 12, 2019

    Claims In Trade Secret Suit Not Preempted By TUTSA, Copyright Act, Judge Rules

    SHERMAN, Texas — A federal judge in Texas on March 11 ruled that defendants in a trade secrets misappropriation lawsuit have failed to show that certain claims are preempted by either the Texas Uniform Trade Secret Act (TUTSA) or, alternatively, the federal Copyright Act or Patent Act (Performance Pulsation Control Inc. v. Sigma Drilling Technologies LLC, et al., No. 17-0450, E.D. Texas, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38035).

  • March 21, 2019

    Electronic Check Patent Infringement, Eligibility Debated In Briefs

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a March 20 reply brief, two appellants tell the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that a cross-appellant’s proposed construction of various patent claims “does not make sense” (Solutran Inc. v. U.S. Bancorp, et al., No. 19-1345, Fed. Cir.).

  • March 21, 2019

    Federal Circuit Vacates Enhancement, But Affirms Patent Eligibility Holding

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a March 20 divided ruling, a majority of a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found that Cisco Systems Inc. was entitled to judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) that its infringement of two computer security patents was not willful (SRI International Inc. v. Cisco Systems Inc., No. 17-2223, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 8249).

  • March 20, 2019

    Microsoft Petitions Board For Review Of Software Task Completion Patent

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A claimed method of collective task completion among distributed software agents using an inter-agent communication language (ICL) to provide a common communication protocol would have been obvious to a person of skill in the art (POSITA), Microsoft Corp. asserts in a March 19 petition for inter partes review by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Microsoft Corp. v. IPA Technologies Inc., No. IPR2019-00837, PTAB).

  • March 19, 2019

    Nonobviousness Finding Vacated, Remanded By Federal Circuit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a March 14 decision, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals directed a Delaware federal judge to reconsider the question of whether a patent covering the antipsychotic drug Saphris is infringed by a proposed generic (Forest Laboratories LLC v. Sigmapharm Laboratories LLC, et al., No. 17-2369, Fed. Cir.).

  • March 18, 2019

    Federal Circuit Reverses California Federal Judge’s Patent Ineligibility Holding

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A divided panel of the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 15 found that various claims of six patents relating to the amino acid beta-alanine were erroneously deemed ineligible for patenting by a California federal judge (Natural Alternatives International Inc. v. Creative Compounds LLC, No. 18-1295, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 7647).

  • March 15, 2019

    Apple Largely Prevails In Qualcomm Patent Agreement Row

    SAN DIEGO — Efforts by Qualcomm Inc. to recoup the “sizable” payments it made to Apple Inc. as part of a business cooperation and patent agreement (BCPA) were unsuccessful March 14, when a California federal judge instead awarded Apple partial summary judgment (In re: Qualcomm Litigation, No. 17-108, S.D. Calif.).

  • March 15, 2019

    Fracking Plug Maker Says Technology Company Is Infringing Its Patents

    HOUSTON — A technology company that makes plugs used in hydraulic fracturing wells sued another fracking plug company on Feb. 26, alleging that it has infringed the patents for several products (Downhole Technology LLC v. Maverick Downhole Technologies Inc., et al., No. 19-683, S.D. Texas).

  • March 15, 2019

    Streaming Patent Not Obvious, Federal Circuit Told By Appellant

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patented method for emulating the streaming of video over a network with an open architecture solution was erroneously held invalid as obvious by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Philips) recently told the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals (Koninklijke Philips N.V. v. Google LLC, Nos. 2019-1177, -1191, -1237, Fed. Cir.).

  • March 14, 2019

    Heineken’s Petitions For Review Of Anheuser-Busch Patent Fail

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In two final written decisions issued March 13, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board rejected efforts by Heineken N.V. to cancel various claims of an Anheuser-Busch patent directed to “bag-in containers” (Heineken N.V. v. Anheuser-Busch InBev S.A., Nos. IPR2018-01667 and IPR2018-01665, PTAB).

  • March 14, 2019

    Medical Device Patent Owner Tells Board To Deny Inter Partes Review

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a March 13 preliminary response filed with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the owner of a medical device patent defended its technology as “revolutionary” (Cook Incorporated, et al. v. Medtronic Inc., No. IPR2019-00123, PTAB).

  • March 13, 2019

    Bid For Stay By Google, Other Patent Defendants Denied In California

    SAN FRANCISCO — In a March 12 order, a California federal judge rejected efforts by three patent infringement defendants to stay the litigation while they await the outcome of an inter partes review (IPR) by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Space Data Corporation v. Alphabet Inc., et al., No. 16-3260, N.D. Calif., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39890).

  • March 13, 2019

    Appellee To Federal Circuit: Krill Oil Patent Correctly Deemed Obvious

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a March 12 appellee brief filed with the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, a prevailing inter partes review (IPR) petitioner defends a conclusion by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB or board) that all claims of a patent directed to the extraction of krill oil from denatured krill would be obvious to a person of skill in the art (POSITA) (Aker Biomarine Antarctic AS v. Rimfrost AS, No. 19-1097, Fed. Cir.).

  • March 13, 2019

    Following Jury Trial, Patent Owner’s Bid For JMOL Is Denied

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on March 11 held in abeyance a patent infringement defendant’s motion for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL), while rejecting an identical request for JMOL by a patent owner, three months after a jury rendered a verdict of noninfringement in the case (Finjan Inc. v. Juniper Networks Inc., No. 17-5659, N.D. Calif., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38906).

  • March 12, 2019

    Board Petitioned For Review Of ‘Hands-Free’ Appliance Control Patent

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a March 11 petition for inter partes review (IPR), Microsoft Corp. told the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that various claims of a patented method of sound-activated and voice-operated remote control of appliances should be canceled as obvious to a person of skill in the art (POSITA) (Microsoft Corp. v. Speakware Inc., No. IPR2019-00792, PTAB).

  • March 12, 2019

    Parties Square Off In Texas Dispute Over Fracking Patent

    WICHITA FALLS, Texas — In a March 7 response, plaintiffs say a motion to dismiss their patent antitrust action, filed pursuant to Walker Process Equip. v. Food Mach. & Cham. Corp., 382 U.S. 172, 173-74, 86 S. Ct. 347, 15 L.Ed.2d 247 (1965), is “without merit” and “borders on frivolous” (Ronald Chandler et al., v. Phoenix Services LLC, No. 19-14, N.D. Texas).

  • March 12, 2019

    Generic Drugmakers Back Ruling Against Tribal Immunity For Patent Reviews

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A case in which a drugmaker is trying to use an Indian tribe’s sovereign immunity to shield it from inter partes review (IPR) of its patents is a poor vehicle for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the issue of tribal immunity for IPRs, respondent generic drugmakers tell the high court in a March 6 brief in opposition to a certiorari petition (Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, et al. v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc., et al., No. 18-899, U.S. Sup., 2019 U.S. S. Ct. Briefs LEXIS 837).