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Mealey's Patents

  • September 20, 2019

    Federal Circuit: Term Adjustment By Office Supported By Statute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patent applicant’s initial response to a final action by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) that continued to challenge the merits of an examiner’s rejection of various patent claims qualifies as applicant delay, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Sept. 18 (Intra-Cellular Therapies Inc. v. Andrei Iancu, No. 18-1849, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 27986).

  • September 20, 2019

    Federal Circuit Vacates Judgment, Orders Dismissal Of Patent Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Giving effect to its same-day summary affirmance of a determination by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that all claims of four patents are unpatentable, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 19 directed a Texas federal judge to dismiss an infringement action (Chrimar Systems Inc., v. ALE USA Inc., No. 18-2420, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 28105).

  • September 20, 2019

    Panel Affirms Board, Deems Conversion Array Patent Obvious

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Sept. 18 decision, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that three claims of a patent directed to a digital-to-analog (DAC) and analog-to-digital (ADC) converter patent would have been obvious to a person of skill in the art (Innovative Memory Systems Inc. v. Micron Technology Inc., No. 18-1348, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 27988).

  • September 19, 2019

    Petitioner Seeks Review Of Patent Relating To ‘Downloadables’

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a Sept. 18 petition for inter partes review (IPR) filed with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, Unified Patents Inc. took aim at a Finjan Inc. patent directed to the creation or receipt of a security profile for a file received over a network, also known as a “downloadable,” as well as transmission of the downloadable and its related security profile (Unified Patents Inc. v. Finjan Inc., No. IPR2019-01611, PTAB).

  • September 19, 2019

    Appellant To Federal Circuit: Patent Board Violated APA

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Sept. 10 appellant brief, Power Integrations Inc. (PI) tells the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board confirmed the validity of a circuit patent based on an “entirely new theory presented for the first time” in its final written decision (Power Integrations Inc. v. Semiconductor Components Industries LLC, Nos. 2019-1863, -1868, Fed. Cir.).

  • September 17, 2019

    Divided Panel Upholds Patent Term Adjustment In Defeat For Appellant

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A decision by a Virginia federal judge to sustain the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO)’s calculation of a term adjustment for an immunosuppression therapy drug patent was not erroneous, a divided Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Sept. 16 (Mayo Foundation For Medical Education and Research v. Andrei Iancu, No. 18-2031, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 27771).

  • September 16, 2019

    Federal Circuit:  Claim Language In Design Patent Is Limiting

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In what it deemed a case of first impression, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 12 found that where claim language supplies the only instance of an article of manufacture, and the article of manufacture appears nowhere in the figures included with a design patent application, the claim language is limiting (Curver Luxembourg SARL v. Home Expressions Inc., No. 18-2214, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 27470).

  • September 13, 2019

    Section 145 ‘Expenses’ Include Attorney Fees, PTO Argues In High Court Reply Brief

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — With U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments approaching, merits briefing concluded Aug. 14 in a dispute over whether Section 145 of the Patent Act provides for an award of attorney fees to a prevailing party, with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) arguing in its reply brief that the American Rule does not preclude such awards because the statute allows for an award of “expenses,” which typically include attorney fees (Laura Peter v. NantKwest Inc., No. 18-801, U.S. Sup.).

  • September 13, 2019

    Petitioner Prevails In Inter Partes Review Of Columbia University Patent

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a Sept. 9 final written decision, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board agreed with Illumina Inc. that two claims of a patent directed to a system for DNA sequencing would have been obvious to a person of skill in the art (POSITA) (Illumina Inc. v. The Trustees of Columbia University, No. IPR2018-00797, PTAB).

  • September 12, 2019

    Appellant To Panel: Cross-Appellant View Of Patent Is Wrong

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In competing reply briefs recently filed with the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, an appellant and cross-appellant continue to debate the essence of a disputed fracking patent, as well as whether the panel possesses appellate jurisdiction in the case (EnerPol LLC v. Schlumberger Technology Corp., Nos. 2019-1079, -1120, Fed. Cir.).

  • September 12, 2019

    Intellectual Ventures Appeals Canceled Patent Claims To Federal Circuit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Sept. 3 appellant brief, Intellectual Ventures II LLC (IV) maintains that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB or board) erred in canceling five claims of a patented method of cooling an electromagnetic device (Intellectual Ventures II LLC v. Aisin Seiki Company Ltd., et al., Nos. 19-1800, -1801, Fed. Cir.).

  • September 12, 2019

    Glaxo Can’t Skirt $89M Jury Award, Delaware Federal Judge Rules

    WILMINGTON, Del. — In a Sept. 10 decision, a federal judge in Delaware rejected a request by GlaxoSmithKline LLC and Glaxo Group Limited (Glaxo, collectively) for a new trial on allegations that it directly and indirectly infringed a patent relating to pharmaceutical compositions for inhalation (Vectura Limited v. GlaxoSmithKline LLC, et al., No. 16-638, D. Del., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 153621).

  • September 12, 2019

    In New York Federal Court, Patent Owner Injunction Motion Denied

    NEW YORK — A dispute over a patented toy will proceed without a preliminary injunction in place because it remains unclear whether an accused product meets various limitations of the patent in suit, a federal judge in New York held Sept. 11 (Ever Victory Technology Limited v. SAS Group Inc., No. 19-486, S.D. N.Y., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 154954).

  • September 11, 2019

    In Response To Board, Patent Owner Urges Denial Of Google Petition

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Efforts by Google Inc. to cancel various claims of a coding patent should fail because the “vast majority” of General Plastic Indus. Co. v. Canon Kabushiki Kaisha factors weigh against institution of inter partes review (IPR), a patent owner told the Patent Trial and Appeal Board on Sept. 6 (Google Inc. v. Realtime Adaptive Streaming LLC, No. IPR2019-01038, PTAB).

  • September 10, 2019

    Federal Circuit: Patent Board Misinterpreted Earlier Mandate

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Sept. 9 ruling, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board misinterpreted the appellate court’s 2017 mandate that vacated as moot an appeal of an adverse inter partes re-examination (Valspar Sourcing Inc. v. PPG Industries Inc., Nos. 2018-1462, -1463, -2164, -2165, Fed. Cir.).

  • September 09, 2019

    In Illinois, Enhanced Patent Damages Denied, But Relief Entered

    CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois on Sept. 6 rejected a request for a new trial in a decade-long dispute over patented features of an infant play gym but also denied a patent owner’s request for enhanced damages (Kolcraft Enterprises Inc. v. Chicco USA Inc., No. 09-3339, N.D. Ill., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 151958).

  • September 09, 2019

    Federal Circuit Agrees: Personal Financing System Is Patent-Ineligible

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Sept. 6 ruling, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed findings by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that a patent application relating to automated systems for personal financial planning claims ineligible subject matter (In re:  Mark A. Greenstein, No. 19-1521, Fed. Cir.).

  • September 06, 2019

    False Advertising Claim Over Patented Technology Dismissed In Arizona

    PHOENIX — Allegations of false patent marking and false advertising in connection with nitric oxide (N-O) test strips were dismissed Sept. 4 by an Alaska federal judge, who found that a plaintiff lacks standing because the parties are not yet direct competitors in the N-O test strip market (ThermoLife International LLC v. NeoGenis Labs Inc., No. 18-2980, D. Ariz., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150457).

  • September 06, 2019

    Huawei Petitions Board For Review Of Network Topology Patent

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a Sept. 5 filing with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, Huawei Technologies asserts that a patented graphical user interface (GUI) for displaying network topology would have been obvious in view of prior art (Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. v. Harris Corporation, No. IPR2019-01570, PTAB).

  • September 05, 2019

    Board Grants Facebook Petition To Review Message Silencing Patent

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a Sept. 4 holding, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board found that Facebook Inc. and two co-petitioners showed a reasonable likelihood that they will prevail in establishing that at least one claim of a Blackberry Limited patent directed to silencing message threads is unpatentable (Facebook Inc., et al. v. Blackberry Limited, No. IPR2019-00706, PTAB).