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Mealey's Patents

  • June 24, 2019

    Dispute Over Patent Priority Dates Won’t Be Heard By High Court

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 24 announced that it will not review a 2017 ruling by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that affirmed the rejection of a petition for inter partes review because the filing relied on unavailable prior art (Ariosa Diagnostics Inc. v. Illumina Inc., No. 18-109, U.S. Sup).

  • June 24, 2019

    Federal Circuit Affirms: ‘Gamvatar’ Gaming Patent Is Obvious

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a June 21 holding, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld findings by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that 11 claims of a patented process for generating a “gamvatar” are invalid (Game and Technology Co. v. Activision Blizzard Inc., et al., No. 18-1981, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 18601).

  • June 24, 2019

    Certiorari Granted In Dispute Over Appealability Of Patent Time Bar

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 24 agreed to take on a dispute that poses the question of whether Section 314(b) of the America Invents Act (AIA) permits an appeal of a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) with regard to the time bar established by Section 315(b) of the statute (Dex Media Inc. v. Click-To-Call Technologies L.P. and Andrei Iancu, No. 18-916, U.S. Sup.).

  • June 21, 2019

    Federal Circuit Upholds Cancellation Of Patent Covering Antifungal Drug

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a June 21 ruling, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found no error in findings by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that eight claims of a patented composition of largely insoluble azole antifungal drugs would be anticipated or rendered obvious by prior art (Mayne Pharma International Pty Ltd. v. Merck, Sharpe & Dohme Corp., No. 18-1593, Fed. Cir.).

  • June 20, 2019

    Claimed Concepts Were Well-Known, Petitioner Tells Patent Board

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a June 18 petition for inter partes review (IPR), a Canadian telecommunications company maintains that two claims of a patented process for managing content and services over a network were well-known in 2012 at the time of patenting (Guest Tek Interactive Entertainment Ltd. v. Nomadix Inc., No. IPR2019-01191, PTAB).

  • June 19, 2019

    Board Rejection Of Samsung Patent Allegations Reversed By Panel

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — An unsuccessful inter partes review (IPR) proceeding initiated by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. will be revisited in light of a June 18 decision by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that reversed findings by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that Samsung failed to establish obviousness (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. v. UUSI LLC, No. 18-1310, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 18185).

  • June 18, 2019

    Judge:  Company’s Unfair Competition Claim Against Apple Superseded By CUTSA

    OAKLAND, Calif. — A federal judge in California on June 17 ruled that a technology company has failed to sufficiently show that Apple Inc. engaged in unfair competition under California common law when it allegedly infringed on the company’s patented technology and intellectual property to develop its “Emergency SOS” product for its Apple devices because the claim is preempted by federal patent law and is superseded by the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act (CUTSA) (Zomm LLC v. Apple Inc., No. 18-4969, N.D. Calif., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101029).

  • June 18, 2019

    Federal Circuit Affirms: Workpiece Support Reissue Patent Is Invalid

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in Oklahoma did not err in finding that because a reissue patent claims an invention not disclosed by the original patent, the reissue claims fail to comply with the original patent requirement of the Patent Act, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found June 17 (Forum US Inc. v. Flow Valve LLC, No. 18-1765, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 18055).

  • June 18, 2019

    Panel Finds No State Sovereign Immunity In Inter Partes Reviews

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Efforts by the Regents of the University of Minnesota (UMN) to avoid a challenge to various UMN patents were unsuccessful June 14, when the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that states do not enjoy sovereign immunity in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings (Regents of the University of Minnesota v. LSI Corporation, et al., No. 18-1559; Regents of the University of Minnesota v. Ericsson Inc., Nos. 2018-1560, -1561, -1562, -1563, -1564, -1565, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 17887).

  • June 18, 2019

    Rejection Of Interpolation Patent Application Upheld By Federal Circuit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patent application relating to a “method of efficiently implementing a multi-dimensional interpolation” was properly rejected, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled June 13 (In re: Roman Gitlin, No. 18-1461, Fed. Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 17702).

  • June 17, 2019

    In French Press Trade Dress Row, 7th Circuit Upholds Verdict

    CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 12 found no error in an Illinois federal judge’s decision to deny a trade dress infringement defendant judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) that a plaintiff failed to prove that its “Chambord” French press coffeemaker features a nonfunctional design (Bodum USA Inc. v. A Top New Casting Inc., No. 18-3020, 7th Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 17555).

  • June 17, 2019

    After Inviting Government Views, Supreme Court Won’t Hear Patent Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In its June 17 orders list the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in a case that posed the question of whether the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals can refuse an appeal of an adverse inter partes review (IPR) on standing grounds when no such standing requirement exists for those seeking IPR (RPX Corp. v. ChanBond LLC, No. 17-1686, U.S. Sup.).

  • June 14, 2019

    In Supplemental Brief, Tech Firm Urges Certiorari In Foreign Patent Sales Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Responding to an amicus curiae brief by the U.S. government, a patent holder filed a supplemental brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on June 3, arguing that an underlying ruling and the precedent on which it relies reflect an incorrect interpretation of what constitutes an offer to sell an infringing item under Section 271(a) of the Patent Act, in asking the high court to provide guidance on domestic an extraterritorial sales (Texas Advanced Optoelectronic Solutions Inc. v. Renesas Electronics America Inc., No. 18-600, U.S. Sup.).

  • June 11, 2019

    Apple, Facebook, WhatsApp Dispute Board’s Patentability Findings

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a May 29 appellant brief, three partly unsuccessful inter partes review (IPR) petitioners tell the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board erred in determining that various claims of a voice messaging patent are not obvious (Apple Inc., et al. v. Uniloc 2017 LLC, Nos. 2019-1151, -1179, -1203, Fed. Cir.).

  • June 11, 2019

    Patentee, Licensee Defend Enhanced Damages In Patent Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Allegations by two patent infringement defendants that a jury’s damage award was not properly apportioned are forfeited, the patent owners tell the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a May 24 appellee brief (Alfred E. Mann Foundation for Scientific Research, et al. v. Cochlear Corp., et al., No. 19-1201, Fed. Cir.).

  • June 10, 2019

    9th Circuit Affirms Verdict Of Willful Trade Dress Infringement

    SAN FRANCISCO — In a June 7 unpublished decision, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found no error in a Washington federal judge’s denial of a renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) of no willful trade dress infringement (National Products Inc. v. Arkon Resources Inc., Nos. 18-35220 and 18-35221, 9th Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 17170).

  • June 10, 2019

    Georgia Federal Judge Agrees: Patent Case Belongs In California

    DUBLIN, Ga. — Two defendants on June 6 won transfer of patent infringement allegations when a federal judge in Georgia found that the interests of justice are better served with the case proceeding in the Central District of California (Rehrig Pacific Co. v. Polymer Logistics Ltd., et al., No. 18-55, S.D. Ga., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95384).

  • June 10, 2019

    ‘Anti-Ram’ Patent Is Obvious, Petitioner Tells Patent Board

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a June 6 petition for inter partes review (IPR), a perimeter security company maintains that a patented “Anti-Ram System and Method of Installation” recites bollard technology that has been “commonplace . . . for decades” (Guardiar Technologies Inc. v. RSA Protective Technologies LLC, No. IPR2019-01162, PTAB).

  • June 10, 2019

    High Court Rejects Government Bid To Initiate AIA Challenges

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The three administrative review proceedings established by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) cannot be initiated by the U.S. government, which does not qualify as a “person” under the statute, a divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 10 (Return Mail Inc. v. U.S. Postal Service, et al., No. 17-1594, U.S. Sup.).

  • June 7, 2019

    Patent Owner Tells Board To Deny Post-Grant Review Request

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a June 5 preliminary patent owner response, the maker of a line of wood-fired pellet grills defended its patent covering a cloud-based platform that allows grills to be operated remotely (GMG Products LLC v. Traeger Pellet Grills LLC, No. PGR2019-00035, PTAB).