Mealey's Patents : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Patents

January 30, 2024
Halliburton Defends Patent Board’s Anticipation, Obviousness Determinations

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Substantial evidence supports a final written decision (FWD) by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that technology directed to the automation of hydraulic fracturing processes is unpatentable, Halliburton Energy Systems Inc. maintains in a recent appellee brief filed with the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
January 29, 2024
Honeywell Wins Mandamus Relief; Panel Orders Transfer Of Patent Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Because several factors favor a North Carolina venue for allegations that Honeywell International Inc. infringed patented radio frequency identification (RFID) technology while “nothing of significance” ties the case to Texas, a federal judge there wrongly denied Honeywell’s motion to transfer, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Jan. 26.
January 26, 2024
Patent Case Over YouTube Live Streaming Features Tossed In Washington

SEATTLE — Google LLC has secured dismissal with prejudice of allegations that YouTube violates a patent relating to a web conferencing system with “time shifting” capabilities, with a federal judge in Washington concluding Jan. 25 that the claimed technology is ineligible for patenting.
January 25, 2024
California Federal Judge: No Trial On Intel Patent License Defense, For Now

SAN FRANCISCO — Citing a recent agreement to dismiss two patents from a longstanding row over microchips combined with her earlier summary judgment of noninfringement and/or invalidity of two other patents, a federal judge in California on Jan. 24 denied a bid by Intel Corp. to proceed to trial on an affirmative defense that its use of the patented technology was authorized by a license.
January 25, 2024
Appeal Of Adverse Ruling In APA Case Against USPTO Heads To Federal Circuit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A July determination by a District of Columbia federal judge that a nonprofit corporation representing inventors lacks standing to press a lawsuit over the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) process for deciding when to institute inter partes review (IPR) and post-grant review (PGR) will proceed before the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled.
January 24, 2024
2-Pronged Challenge To Folder Sharing, File Requesting Patent Launched

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a pair of petitions for inter partes review (IPR), a cloud storage company seeks cancellation by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of a technique for allowing a user to share folders or request that a file be uploaded by a different user.
January 24, 2024
In Colorado Patent Row, Federal Judge Denies Reconsideration Request

DENVER — Assertions by a patent infringement defendant that an order construing the disputed claim term “sperm cells” in a method patent for producing sex-sorted animal sperm constituted an intervening change in law because it is broader than the construction offered by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in a related inter partes review (IPR) were rejected Jan. 23 by a federal judge in Colorado.
January 23, 2024
Panel Upholds Win For BMW, Affirms Patent Board Obviousness Holding

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patented remote start system that also activates a vehicle’s climate control system and operates the vehicle brake was correctly deemed obvious by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals concluded Jan. 22.
January 23, 2024
Technology Underlying 3D Pointer Is Obvious, Federal Circuit Affirms

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A final written decision (FWD) by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board canceling various claims of a patented three-dimensional pointing device has been upheld by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which deemed the board’s findings supported by substantial evidence.
January 22, 2024
Pixel Shifting Method Is Ineligible For Patenting, Federal Circuit Affirms

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Allegations of infringement leveled against the maker of an app that allows users to animate pixels were correctly rejected by a federal judge in Texas because “changing the position of components in an image to create the appearance of movement, i.e., animation” is “clearly an abstract idea,” the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Jan. 22.
January 18, 2024
Inventor Tells High Court ‘Expert’ Was Not Person Of Ordinary Skill In The Art

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a reply brief supporting her petition for certiorari, an inventor counters the respondent’s suggestion that she failed to raise any issues of law that would merit review by the U.S. Supreme Court, asserting that she sufficiently alleged that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals erred “by declaring a non-expert as a” person of ordinary skill in the art (POSITA) “and by relying on his unsupported testimony” in affirming a judgment by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that invalidated her ventilator technology patent.
January 17, 2024
High Court Told ‘Chaos’ Will Ensue ‘In A World Without Chevron’ Deference

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court was told Jan. 17 that “chaos” will ensue “in a world without Chevron” deference by government attorneys, who urged it to apply stare decisis and uphold Chevron, which is being challenged in two cases arising out of federal fishing regulations.
January 16, 2024
Ericsson Seeks Cancellation Of 2 Surviving Patent Claims In New Petition

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A wireless patent that already saw its first 27 claims canceled in an earlier inter partes review (IPR) is under siege yet again in a new IPR petition by Ericsson Inc. filed Jan. 12 with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
January 12, 2024
Appellant: Dismissal Of Patent, Copyright, Lanham Act Claims Was Error

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patent owner is seeking reinstatement of its lawsuit against a former employee and his new company, asserting in an appellant brief filed with the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that a Utah federal judge wrongly construed “positioned between” and “formed between” in relation to a claimed air gap in the steel core of a buckling-restrained brace (BRB).
January 12, 2024
Parties Continue To Spar Over Patent At Center Of Since-Vacated $1.5B Verdict

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a flurry of filings with the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Intel Corp., VLSI Technology Inc. and Patent Quality Assurance LLC (PQA) dispute how to move forward in an appeal of an inter partes review (IPR) by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that canceled a patent that served as the basis for a $1.5 billion infringement verdict, following a mid-December sanction order by the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
January 12, 2024
Fintiv Defends Patented Mobile Financial Services System Before Board

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — All three grounds for inter partes review (IPR) of a mobile financial services (mFS) system fail, Fintiv Inc. asserts in a Jan. 11 patent owner response filed with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
January 11, 2024
Apple Fights Off Bid To Undo Patent Board Obviousness Holding

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Findings by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that a single challenged claim of a patented pulse oximetry system is obvious were affirmed Jan. 10 by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a win for inter partes review (IPR) petitioner Apple Inc.
January 11, 2024
Patented Radiofrequency Microneedling Method, Apparatus Challenged

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A new petition for inter partes review (IPR) urges the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to cancel a patent that relates to radiofrequency microneedling, asserting that a prior art patent not considered by a patent examiner discloses “most” of the claims.
January 10, 2024
Failed Bid For Correction Of Patent Inventorship Won’t Result In Fee Award

WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal judge in Delaware has concluded that a lawsuit seeking a correction of patent inventorship that failed on every count alleged was not so meritless as to qualify as “exceptional” for an award of attorney fees.
January 10, 2024
All Challenged Claims Of 2 Reissue Patents Are Obvious, Panel Affirms

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two reissue patents relating to a system for improving the integrity of a fastening assembly were correctly deemed obvious by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Jan. 9 in a win for General Motors LLC and others.
January 09, 2024
California Federal Judge: Plaintiff Lacks Standing In Patent Fight With Netflix

SAN FRANCISCO — A co-inventor’s claim that he regained ownership via appropriation of an abandoned patent application under Finnish common law was rejected Jan. 8 by a federal judge in California, who clarified, “Finnish common law does not matter here.”
January 08, 2024
Supreme Court Turns Away Latest Request For Section 101 Review

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bid by a technology company for clarification from the U.S. Supreme Court on the proper standard for determining patent eligibility was turned away Jan. 8 with a denial of a petition for a writ of certiorari.
January 08, 2024
Intel Bid For Certiorari Denied In Patent Dispute Over Fintiv Instructions

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A March 2023 ruling by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals largely rejecting a challenge by tech leaders to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) guidance for the Patent Trial and Appeal Board when deciding whether to institute inter partes review (IPR) will stand, in view of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Jan. 8 denial of a petition for writ of certiorari.
January 08, 2024
9th Circuit Denies Rehearing, Files Amended Opinion In FCA Drug Pricing Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 5 denied a petition for a panel rehearing and a rehearing en banc, issuing an amended opinion of its decision reversing a district court’s dismissal of a relator’s qui tam suit alleging violations of the federal False Claims Act (FCA) against pharmaceutical companies related to their alleged fraud by artificially inflating drug prices, finding “that the qualifying public disclosures here do not collectively disclose a combination of facts sufficient to permit a reasonable inference of fraud.”
January 05, 2024
Panel: Discretion Not Abused In Denial Of Preliminary Injunction In Patent Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An interlocutory appeal of a determination that preliminary injunctive relief is not warranted in a dispute over glucose monitoring patents has failed, with the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals finding no abuse of discretion.