Mealey's Patents
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August 22, 2019
Panel Deems Wireless Transmission Patent Ineligible Under Section 101
WASHINGTON, D.C. — An award of enhanced damages and attorney fees by an Illinois federal judge in connection with patents covering wireless transmission of status information was partly vacated and remanded Aug. 21 by a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel, which found that one of the two patents in suit is directed to an abstract idea (The Chamberlain Group Inc. v. Techtronic Industries North America Inc., et al., Nos. 18-2103, -2228, Fed. Cir.).
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August 21, 2019
Patent Asserted Against Samsung Is Indefinite, Federal Circuit Affirms
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in New York correctly held an independent claim of a digital rights management (DRM) patent indefinite, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Aug. 20 (William Grecia v. Samsung Electronics America Inc., No. 19-1019, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 24712).
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August 21, 2019
Delaware Federal Judge Enters $49.9 Million Judgment Against L’Oreal
WILMINGTON, Del. — On the heels of an Aug. 12 jury verdict, a federal judge in Delaware on Aug. 20 entered a judgment against defendant L’Oreal USA Inc., ordering the cosmetics and hair care company to pay nearly $50 million in damages for patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation (Liqwd Inc., et al. v. L’Oreal USA Inc., No. 17-14, D. Del.).
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August 20, 2019
Failure To Construe Patent Claims Leads Panel To Vacate, Remand
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in California erred when granting judgment on the pleadings with regard to patent validity without first resolving the parties’ claim construction dispute, a divided Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals concluded Aug. 16 (MyMail Ltd. v. ooVoo LLC, Nos. 2018-1758, -1759, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 24430).
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August 20, 2019
Federal Circuit Agrees: Enzo Polynucleotide Probe Unpatentable
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Patent Trial and Appeal Board did not err in holding a patent directed to analyte detection anticipated or rendered obvious by prior art, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Aug. 16 (Enzo Life Sciences Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson & Company, et al., Nos. 2018-1232, -1233, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 24431).
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August 19, 2019
Panel Endorses De Novo Review When ‘Relation Back’ Doctrine Applied
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In dismissing as time-barred allegations of patent infringement, a Colorado federal magistrate judge employed an “overly restrictive” application of the “relation back” doctrine, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Aug. 16, reinstating the case (Anza Technology Inc. v. Mushkin Inc., No. 19-1045, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 24432).
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August 16, 2019
Appellant Tells Panel Coca-Cola Beverage Dispenser Infringes Patent
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a recent appellant brief filed with the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, a patent owner reiterates its position that the “Freestyle” beverage dispenser developed by The Coca-Cola Co. infringes and that a Georgia federal judge erred in finding otherwise (Rothschild Connected Devices Innovations, LLC v. The Coca-Cola Company, No. 19-1825, Fed. Cir.).
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August 16, 2019
Panel Hears Facebook Appeal Of Adverse Inter Partes Reviews By Board
WASHINGTON, D.C. — At oral arguments before the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 7, Facebook Inc. argued against findings of patentability by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in four inter partes reviews (IPRs) of patents relating to online communication, including through a “chat room”-like interface (Facebook Inc. v. Windy City Innovations LLC, No. 18-1400, Fed. Cir.).
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August 16, 2019
Sony Tells Panel Patent Board Correctly Construed Term
WASHINGTON, D.C. — An appellant’s effort to “import an extra functional limitation” into the term “reflecting walls” is “too late and too little,” Sony Corp. recently asserted in a brief filed in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals (Collabo Innovations Inc. v. Sony Corporation, No. 19-1152, Fed. Cir.).
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August 15, 2019
Summary Judgment Rulings In Trade Secret, Patent Dispute Affirmed
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 14 ruled that a federal district court did not err in dismissing a plaintiff’s trade secret misappropriation and unjust enrichment claims as time-barred pursuant to Ohio’s uniform trade secret law because the plaintiff failed to bring the claim within the necessary statute of limitations period (Josef Maatuk v. Emerson Electric Inc., et al., No. 19-1615, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 24142).
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August 15, 2019
Solar Patent Singled Out For Inter Partes Review In New Petition
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A petition for inter partes review filed with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board on Aug. 13 asserts that a patented solar-assisted refrigeration system would have been obvious to a person of skill in the art at the time of patenting (SunTrac Solar Manufacturing LLC v. DZSolar Ltd., No. IPR2019-01492, PTAB).
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August 15, 2019
Board Sides With Petitioner In Gaming Patent Post-Grant Review
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A recently issued patent covering a method of displaying battle scenes in a computer game recites ineligible subject matter, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruled Aug. 14 in adjudicating a petition for post-grant review (PGR) (Supercell Oy v. Gree Inc., No. PGR2018-00029, PTAB).
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August 14, 2019
Patent Owner Tells Board Petition Relies On Hindsight Bias
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In an Aug. 9 patent owner response, a pharmaceutical company criticized a recently filed petition for inter partes review (IPR) as “riddled” with hindsight bias in asserting obviousness (Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC v. Almirall LLC, No. IPR2019-00207, PTAB).
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August 14, 2019
In Michigan, Dispute Over Patented Heart Monitor Device Stayed
DETROIT — Citing a patent owner’s failure to file infringement allegations for as long as five years after learning of a competing heart failure monitoring device, a federal judge in Michigan on Aug. 12 stayed the litigation pending the outcome of a related petition for inter partes review (IPR) filed with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Integrated Sensing Systems Inc. v. Abbott Laboratories, et al., No. 19-10041, E.D. Mich., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 135208).
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August 13, 2019
Panel: Texas Federal Magistrate Judge Correctly Construed Patent Claim
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an Aug. 12 ruling, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected a patent owner’s assertion that a stipulated judgment of noninfringement was based upon a Texas federal magistrate judge’s erroneous construction of the term “high quality of service connection” (Iridescent Networks Inc. v. AT&T Mobility LLC, et al., No. 18-1449, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 23890).
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August 12, 2019
Claim Construed By Patent Board Erroneously, Federal Circuit Says
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an Aug. 12 holding, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals vacated a determination of patent obviousness after finding that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board “conflated” corresponding structure in a patent’s specification “with a structural definition” for the term “mechanical control assembly” (MTD Products Inc. v. Andrei Iancu, Director, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, No. 17-2292, Fed. Cir.).
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August 12, 2019
On High Court Remand, Panel Tells Patent Board To Dismiss Petition
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a per curiam order issued Aug. 9, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals directed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to dismiss a petition for covered business method (CBM) review by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) of a mail processing patent (Return Mail Inc. v. U.S. Postal Service, No. 16-1502, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 23755).
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August 12, 2019
Panel: Cease-And-Desist Letters, Sublicense Efforts Confer Jurisdiction
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Virginia federal judge did not err in denying dismissal on the basis of lacking personal jurisdiction in a dispute over a genotype patent that was later declared ineligible for patenting, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled July 29 in an unsealed decision released Aug. 9 (Genetic Veterinary Sciences Inc. v. LABOKLIN GmbH & Co. KG, et al., No. 18-2056, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 23754).
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August 12, 2019
Petitioners Tell Board: Patent Owner To Blame For Delay
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Four petitions for inter partes review (IPR) of two wireless communication patents should not be denied on the basis of untimeliness under the America Invents Act (AIA), the petitioners told the Patent Trial and Appeal Board on Aug. 8, because the patent owner’s “litigation tactics” caused the delay (Kathrein USA Inc. and T-Mobile US Inc. v. Fractus S.A., Nos. IPR2019-00944, IPR2019-00945, IPR2019-00946, IPR2019-00947, PTAB).
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August 12, 2019
Divided Panel Tells PTO To Terminate Apple Re-Examination Requests
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 1 partly vacated a decision by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) that Apple Inc. was not barred from pursuing its re-examination requests of two Virnet X Inc. patents, finding that Apple’s validity challenge is barred by estoppel (VirnetX Inc. v. Apple Inc., Nos. 2017-1591, -1592, -1593, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 22912).