Mealey's Patents
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February 27, 2025
Judge Nixes Breach But Not Patent Claims From Dispute Over Resort Lagoon
SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge in Utah delivered mixed results to a defendant resort company and related entities accused of violating a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) and infringing on a patent with the construction of a large manmade lagoon at the resort; the judge granted the defendant entities’ summary judgment motion on the contract claims against it but largely allowed infringement claims to survive.
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February 26, 2025
Infant Probiotic Patent Holder Appeals Invalidity Finding To Federal Circuit
CHICAGO — A biopharmaceutical company and a related entity on Feb. 25 appealed to the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a decision by an Illinois federal judge that claims of two patents related to probiotic infant products are invalid.
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February 25, 2025
Federal Circuit Vacates IPR Decision On Meat Curing Patent, Citing Analysis Errors
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 24 vacated a finding of obviousness from the U.S. Patent Trials and Appeal Board (PTAB) in a patent dispute between food packaging companies; the panel held that PTAB failed to adequately address elements of arguments presented by the appellant company.
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February 25, 2025
Supreme Court: No Certiorari In Patent Dispute Over Meat Slicing Products
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 24 rejected a food equipment company’s petition for a writ of certiorari, leaving in place findings by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that the company’s theory of patent infringement was based on allegations without evidence and that the defendant companies were entitled to judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) and for a new trial on damages.
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February 24, 2025
Generic Drugmaker To High Court: Federal Circuit Patent Opinion Poses Risks
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals was wrong to reverse a Delaware federal judge’s finding of no induced infringement in a patent dispute involving a generic bioequivalent of a prescription cardiovascular drug, the maker of the bioequivalent told the U.S. Supreme Court in a petition for a writ of certiorari.
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February 24, 2025
Supreme Court Won’t Hear DISH’s Patent Dispute Attorney Fees Arguments
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 24 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari from DISH Network LLC, leaving in place a decision from the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to deny the company’s bid for attorney fees in a patent dispute that spanned a federal court and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
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February 20, 2025
No Rehearing In Sprawling Shoe Patent, Trademark Suit, Federal Circuit Says
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A long-running intellectual property dispute between Crocs Inc. and a company it accuses of copying its shoe design will not be reconsidered by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which rejected Crocs’ bid to rethink its reversal of a Colorado federal judge’s grant of summary judgment on a false advertising counterclaim in the suit first launched in 2006.
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February 19, 2025
COVID-19 Treatment Patent Application Doesn’t Show Utility, Federal Circuit Says
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 18 said the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) did not err when it upheld an examiner’s rejection of multiple claims of a patent application for a treatment for the viral infection that causes COVID-19, but the panel partly disagreed with the PTAB and the examiner’s reasoning.
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February 18, 2025
Federal Judge Right To Toss DNA Preservation Patent Suit, Federal Circuit Says
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A California federal judge did not err during claim construction of the challenged phrase “reagent compartment” in a patent dispute involving COVID-19 testing products, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held, affirming the judge’s decision to dismiss the suit based on the claim construction.
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February 14, 2025
Federal Circuit: ITC Erred In Alice Analysis Of Diamond Drill Bit
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel of the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 13 reversed a finding by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) that a synthetic diamond company’s patent was directed at ineligible abstract ideas, instructing the ITC to reconsider its resolution to a case brought by the company against entities it said imported materials that infringed the patent.
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February 14, 2025
Judge: Infringement Claims, Invalidity Counterclaims About Eye Medication All Fail
WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal judge said in unsealed finding of facts and conclusions of law that a plaintiff biopharmaceutical company failed to support its argument that a defendant company infringed on its patented eye medication product; the judge also found, though, that the defendant company failed to show that claims of the patents at issue were invalid.
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February 13, 2025
Federal Circuit To PTAB: Rethink If Touch Device Patent Claims Are Obvious
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) applied an incorrect, overly narrow claim construction in an inter partes review (IPR) proceeding brought by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and its American counterpart against the holder of a patent related to interactive device screens, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Feb. 12.
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February 13, 2025
Amici To High Court: DISH Entitled To Attorney Fees In Patent Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — An advocacy group for patent holders tells the U.S. Supreme Court in an amicus curiae brief that DISH Network LLC was entitled to attorney fees it incurred in a trial in front of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board while also litigating related claims in a Delaware federal court; the group echoes the company’s argument that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals created a circuit split in affirming the denial of fees.
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February 12, 2025
Federal Circuit Affirms Rejection Of Blockchain Patent Application
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 11 affirmed a U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decision to reject a man’s patent application regarding blockchain technology, agreeing with the PTAB that his claims were indefinite and directed at unpatentable material.
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February 11, 2025
Federal Circuit: District Court Patent Claims Not Estopped By PTAB Findings
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Delaware federal judge was wrong to dismiss a patent infringement claim against Groupon Inc., a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Feb. 10; the panel said that prior decisions of the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) cannot estop a patent holder from asserting infringement arguments based on other patent claims that were not considered by the board.
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February 11, 2025
Federal Circuit: New Judge Needed In Patent Row After Expert Testimony Issues
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ordered a new trial on patent infringement to be held in front of a different judge in a North Carolina federal court, holding that the judge who previously oversaw a patent dispute between two biomedical companies repeatedly made statements that could call into question his appearance of fairness in the case.
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February 10, 2025
Importing Of Albumin Products Infringed On Patent, Federal Circuit Affirms
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Trade Commission (ITC) was right to find that a biotechnology company’s act of importing products that contain albumin violated another company’s patent rights, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Feb. 7.
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February 07, 2025
‘Harmless’ Claim Error Doesn’t Affect Obviousness Finding, Federal Circuit Says
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) erred in its construction of claims in a patent dispute between two computer chip companies, but the error was “harmless,” a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Feb. 6.
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February 06, 2025
Patent Licenser To High Court: Federal Circuit Ignores Factual Disputes In Cases
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patent licensing company told the U.S. Supreme Court in a recently docketed petition for a writ of certiorari that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ignored a genuine dispute of facts in its case with Amazon companies, which it says is part of a broader trend of the appeals court resolving factual disputes without a jury.
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February 04, 2025
Federal Circuit Again Affirms Obviousness In Check Depositing Patent Fight
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Days after finding that the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) should have gone further in its findings of obviousness regarding electronic check depositing patents held by United Services Automobile Association (USAA), a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 3 affirmed PTAB’s findings of unpatentability of related patents held by the company.
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February 04, 2025
PTAB Didn’t Follow Step Claims In Telecoms Patent Dispute, Federal Circuit Finds
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a patent dispute among multiple telecommunications companies, the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) erred by failing to require that steps in a listed method be performed in order, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Feb. 3.
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February 04, 2025
Federal Circuit: Obviousness Finding In Check Patent Row Should’ve Gone Further
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Largely affirming but partly reversing findings from the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said in two related opinions that PTAB should have found that more claims in electronic banking patents held by the United Services Automobile Association (USAA) were unpatentable as obvious.
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January 31, 2025
Federal Circuit: Judge, Not PTAB, Correctly Construed Term In Patent Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in Texas did not err during claim construction in a patent dispute between two imaging product makers, a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, saying it agreed with the judge’s construction of the claim and that a construction of the same term by the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) was incorrect.
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January 31, 2025
Microsoft Denied Dismissal Of Patent Infringement Suit Over Network Software
AUSTIN, Texas — Microsoft Corp. was unsuccessful in its bid for an early exit from a patent infringement lawsuit, when a Texas federal judge found that the plaintiff sufficiently alleged that accused products of Microsoft’s use a “network device” and achieve “secure communications” to survive the defendant's dismissal motion.
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January 30, 2025
Federal Circuit Affirms Preliminary Injunctions Against Two Biosimilar Makers
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a pair of Jan. 29 opinions, a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a West Virginia federal judge’s decision to grant preliminary injunctions against two biosimilar manufacturers that barred them from marketing products that were biosimilars to an eye medication patented by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.; the panel rejected jurisdictional and validity arguments raised by the companies.