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Mealey's Patents

December 09, 2019
Appealability Of Patent Board Time-Bar Rulings Debated At Supreme Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. government on Dec. 9 told the U.S. Supreme Court that a determination of timeliness by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO)’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) in an inter partes review (IPR) is not judicially reviewable (Thryv Inc. v. Click-To-Call Technologies L.P., et al., No. 18-916, U.S. Sup.).
December 09, 2019
Illinois Federal Judge: Collateral Estoppel Bars Patent Action

CHICAGO — In a Dec. 5 holding a federal judge in Illinois agreed with two defendants that two patents disclosing a device designed to secure portable electronic devices are invalid for the same reasons articulated by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) in its invalidation of two related patents owned by the plaintiff (Think Products Inc. v. ACCO Brands Corporation, et al., No. 18-7506, N.D. Ill., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 209426).
December 06, 2019
Federal Circuit: Jury Trial Required In FRAND Rate Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A California federal judge erred in denying a patent owner a jury trial on the calculation of a release payment based upon retrospective “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory” (FRAND) rates for past unlicensed sales by appellees, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Dec. 4 (TCL Communication Technology Holdings Ltd., et al. v. Ericsson Inc., et al., Nos. 2018-1363, -1732, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 36090).
December 05, 2019
Facebook Persuades Board To Review Blackberry Info Pushing Patent

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A Blackberry Ltd. patent claiming a system and method for pushing information to a handheld device will be subject to upcoming inter partes review (IPR) by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the board announced Dec. 4 (Facebook Inc., et al. v. Blackberry Ltd., No. IPR2019-00941, PTAB).
December 05, 2019
En Banc Rehearing Request Turned Away By Federal Circuit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Dec. 4 order, the full Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected an Enzo Life Sciences Inc. petition for en banc rehearing of an August holding that retroactive application of inter partes review to patents issued before the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) is not unconstitutional (Enzo Life Sciences Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson & Company, et al., Nos. 2018-1232, -1233, Fed. Cir.).
December 04, 2019
Board Institutes Review Of Golf Club Shaft, Head Connector Patent

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a Dec. 3 ruling, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board found that a petitioner for inter partes review (IPR) demonstrated a reasonable likelihood that it will prevail with regard to allegations that at least one claim of a patented method for connecting a golf club shaft with a golf club head is obvious (Club Champion LLC v. True Spec Golf LLC, No. IPR2019-01148, PTAB).
December 04, 2019
Divided Federal Circuit Upholds Federal Judge’s Noninfringement Finding

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A grant of summary judgment by a federal judge in Delaware that an accused product does not infringe a patented method of manufacturing plastic fuel tanks was affirmed Nov. 21 in a sealed decision by a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel majority and was unsealed Dec. 3 (Plastic Omnium Advanced Innovation and Research v. Donghee America Inc., No. 18-2087, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 35823).
December 03, 2019
Vaccine Stabilization Patent Could Be Obvious, Federal Circuit Says

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Nov. 26 ruling, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals vacated and remanded findings by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that one claim of a Wyeth LLC patent directed to formulations for stabilizing polysaccharide-protein conjugate vaccines is not obvious (Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. v. Wyeth LLC, No. 18-2133, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 35352).
December 02, 2019
Federal Circuit Agrees: Post-Settlement, Appellant Lacks Standing

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Nov. 27 per curiam, unsigned order, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with an appellee that its global settlement with an appellant of allegations that a patented sleep apnea breathing mask is infringed deprived the court of authority to consider the merits of a decision of patentability by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Ltd. v. ResMed Limited, No. 18-2262, Fed. Cir.).
November 27, 2019
Parties Brief High Court On Whether Inter Partes Review Time Bar Is Appealable

WASHINGTON, D.C. — With Dec. 9 oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court approaching, the petitioner, respondent and the United States have all filed merits briefs addressing whether a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) to institute inter partes review of a patent is reviewable by a court under provisions of the American Invents Act (AIA) (Thryv Inc. v. Click-To-Call Technologies L.P., et al., No. 18-916, U.S. Sup.).
November 26, 2019
Judge Orders ‘Closed’ Response To Interrogatory In Patent, Trade Secret Dispute

AKRON, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio on Nov. 21 ruled that a company that develops self-inflating tire technology is required to supply a “closed” response to an interrogatory filed by defendants in a patent inventorship and trade secret misappropriation lawsuit describing in sufficient detail what trade secrets were alleged orally disclosed to the defendants in two 2009 meetings set up to discuss the parties’ potential partnership in the commercialization of the plaintiff’s technology (CODA Development s.r.o., et al. v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, et al., No. 15-1572, N.D. Ohio, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 202114).
November 26, 2019
Intellectual Ventures Responds To Rehearing Request In Patent Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Nov. 21 response to a petition for panel rehearing or rehearing en banc, patent owners defend as proper the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ Sept. 10, 2019, affirmance of a Maryland federal judge’s dismissal on collateral estoppel grounds of antitrust counterclaims raised in an infringement action (Intellectual Ventures I LLC, et al. v. Capital One Financial Corporation, et al., No. 18-1367, Fed. Cir.).
November 26, 2019
Patent Owner Tells Board To Reject Petition By Apple

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a Nov. 25 response, a Korean company tells the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that it should confirm as patentable various challenged claims of a patent that discloses an “elegant solution to the problem of incorporating new functionalities, such as fingerprint authentication, into mobile devices while maintaining simplicity” (Apple Inc. v. Firstface Co. Ltd., No. IPR2019-00614, PTAB).
November 25, 2019
In Win For Apple, Federal Circuit Tosses $503M Patent Award

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A judgment by a Texas federal judge that Apple infringed four patents was partly reversed Nov. 22 by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, leading the court to vacate a jury’s $503 million reasonably royalty award on behalf of the patent owners (Apple Inc. v. VirnetX Inc., et al., No. 19-1050, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 34866).
November 25, 2019
Federal Circuit Affirms: Infringement Claim Barred By Estoppel

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Nov. 22 holding, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with a federal judge in Nevada that prosecution history estoppel bars the owner of a patented glucose-monitoring system from asserting infringement by a competitor (Pharma Tech Solutions Inc., et al. v. LifeScan Inc., No. 19-1163, Fed. Cir.).
November 25, 2019
Intel Tells Patent Board Statutory Bar Claims Are Meritless

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In response to a recent order by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board authorizing a petitioner reply to a patent owner’s preliminary response, Intel Corp. on Nov. 22 maintains that its request for inter partes review (IPR) of an integrated circuit patent is not statutorily barred (Intel Corp. v. Tela Innovations Inc., No. IPR2019-01220, PTAB).
November 22, 2019
Construction Of 3 Disputed Patent Terms Affirmed By Panel

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A stipulated judgment of patent invalidity and noninfringement will stand, in view of a Nov. 21 affirmance by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals of a Colorado federal judge’s construction of three claim terms in an optical beam patent (Fiber LLC v. Ciena Communications Inc., et al., No. 19-1005, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 34598).
November 21, 2019
Surgical Stapler Patent Is Obvious, Petitioner Tells Patent Board

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A medical device maker told the Patent Trial and Appeal Board on Nov. 19 that it should cancel 20 claims of a patented surgical stapler with jaws that open and close (Intuitive Surgical Inc. v. Rex Medical Inc., No. IPR2020-00152, PTAB).
November 20, 2019
Panel Upholds Board, Continues To Disagree On Impact Of Arthrex

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel majority of the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Nov. 19 affirmed that two patents relating to manmade insulin are obvious, but a dissenting judge argued not only that the formulations are patentable but also that the patent owner is entitled to new inter partes review (IPR) proceedings in view of a recent ruling declaring the existing structure of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board unconstitutional (Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GMBH v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc., Nos. 2019-1368, -1369, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 34328).
November 20, 2019
Panel Affirms Board, Says Inter Partes Review Not Time-Barred

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Nov. 19 found no error in the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s conclusion that a petition for inter partes review (IPR) of an online gaming patent was timely (Game and Technology Co. v. Wargaming Group Ltd., No. 19-1171, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 34329).