Mealey's Patents
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July 22, 2021
Processor Sleep State Patent Singled Out For Inter Partes Review
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A patent reciting a reduction in static power consumption by a processor during a clock stoppage that nonetheless allows the processor to maintain its powered-on state would have been obvious to a person of skill in the art (POSITA), a petitioner for inter partes review (IPR) told the Patent Trial and Appeal Board on July 20.
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July 22, 2021
Competing Mattress Companies Square Off In Federal Circuit Patent Appeal
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The maker of the “Sleep Number” mattress told the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 20 that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board did not err when reviewing expert opinion relating to the secondary indicia of nonobviousness offered in California federal litigation during an inter partes review (IPR) of two patents directed to systems and methods for adjusting air pressure.
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July 22, 2021
Patent Owner Says Board Violated APA, Wrongly Construed Claims
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an appellant brief filed July 19 with the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, a patent owner maintains that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board relied on “paper thin,” “untimely” and “out-of-context arguments” when it declared five claims of a patented display system anticipated by prior art.
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July 21, 2021
Federal Circuit Vacates, Remands Patent Board Obviousness Determination
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rejection by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of 13 proposed patent claims relating to a plug capable of withstanding high pressures was vacated and remanded July 20 by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
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July 20, 2021
Panel Says Jurisdiction Lacking Over Appeal Of Patent Injunction
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Failure by a patent infringement defendant to appeal a preliminary injunction entered by an Illinois federal judge precludes the defendant from now appealing a subsequent finding that the defendant’s redesigned product also infringes, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled July 20.
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July 20, 2021
In Rhode Island Patent, Trade Secret Case, Scope Of Retrial Established
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A federal judge in Rhode Island on July 16 clarified that a planned retrial on allegations of trade secret misappropriation will be limited to an algorithm for converting photometric measurements; in the same ruling, the judge rejected a bid by a defendant to recoup the attorney fees it incurred in successfully defending allegations of patent infringement.
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July 20, 2021
Delaware Federal Judge Limits Willful Damages To Post-Suit Infringement
WILMINGTON, Del. — The owner of patented robotic surgery devices can seek willful damages only with regard to post-suit infringement by a competitor, a federal judge in Delaware ruled July 19, rejecting the plaintiff’s allegations of presuit knowledge by the defendant.
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July 19, 2021
Panel Affirms Summary Judgment That Flash Memory Patents Are Invalid
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a July 14 holding, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found no error in a determination by a Texas federal judge that two patents allegedly infringed by Intel Corp. are invalid for lack of written description.
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July 19, 2021
Panel Turns Away Challenge To Collateral Estoppel Holding
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a July 19 summary disposition, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals left intact an Illinois federal judge’s ruling that a dispute over two patents disclosing a device designed to secure portable electronic devices is barred by collateral estoppel in view of the invalidation by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of two related patents owned by a plaintiff.
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July 19, 2021
Panel Says Wireless Surveillance Tech Is Ineligible For Patenting
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Five patents directed to systems and methods for wireless surveillance claim ineligible subject matter under Section 101 of the Patent Act, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed July 14.
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July 15, 2021
Copyright, Patent Disclosures Don’t Doom Trade Secret Claims
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California on July 14 rejected as premature allegations by various trade secret misappropriation defendants that the claimed information is unentitled to trade secret protection because it was disclosed in patent applications and a copyright deposit.
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July 14, 2021
Panel Agrees: Mobile Application Creator Ineligible For Patenting
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a July 13 holding, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a California federal judge’s determination that an invention that purportedly allows “technically unsophisticated users” to create mobile applications recites patent-ineligible subject matter.
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July 13, 2021
Claim Constructions By Texas Federal Judge Disputed By Patent Owner
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a June 29 appellant brief filed with the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, the owner of two patents relating to signal processing techniques asserts that a federal judge in Texas erroneously construed a variety of claim terms, leading to a jury verdict in favor of Google LLC.
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July 13, 2021
Process For Producing Marine Fuel Oil Not Patentable, Petitioner Says
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A low-sulfur heavy marine fuel oil (HMFO) that complies with standards governing marine fuels is unentitled to patent protection, a petitioner for inter partes review (IPR) told the Patent Trial and Appeal Board on July 12.
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July 13, 2021
Barcoded Coffee Capsule Technology Is Obvious, Petitioner Tells Board
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Coffee brewing systems and capsules that are barcoded to inform brewing operation were “well-known in the prior art,” a petitioner for inter partes review (IPR) asserts in a July 12 filing with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
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July 13, 2021
PNC Bank Patent Singled Out In New Petition For Inter Partes Review
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A patent reciting a “web services hub” is “directed to nothing more than the general concept of receiving a message, translating it, and forwarding the translated message to a destination, with some generic authentication processes applied for security purposes,” a petitioner for inter partes review (IPR) told the Patent Trial and Appeal Board on July 9.
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July 12, 2021
Patent Owner Weighs In On Impact Of High Court Arthrex Ruling
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a July 7 brief filed with the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, a cross-appellant says that because Apple Inc. failed to raise a challenge regarding the constitutionality of administrative patent judges (APJs) in a March appellant brief, and because the cross-appellant would voluntarily waive its own APJ challenge, the appeal “should immediately move forward.”
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July 12, 2021
Recommended Denial Of Stay In Dispute Over Ablation Patent Adopted
WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal judge in Delaware on July 8 adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation that a request to stay patent infringement allegations be denied, citing the late stage of the litigation and the potential for prejudice to a patent owner.
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July 12, 2021
Halliburton Seeks Board Review Of Electric Fracturing Pump Patent
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a June 18 petition for inter partes review (IPR) filed with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, Halliburton Energy Services Inc. maintains that a patent that recites an electric-powered fracturing system should be canceled as obvious.
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July 08, 2021
Federal Circuit: Patent Case Against Uber Will Proceed In California
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Just over one week after it granted a petition for mandamus by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and LG Electronics Inc. in a dispute over geographic location data sharing technology, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 8 ordered a Texas federal judge to transfer allegations of infringement of two of the same patents levied against Uber Technologies Inc.