Mealey's Patents
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January 09, 2025
Judge Finds Probiotic Infant Product Patent Claims To Be Invalid
CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois granted summary judgment in favor of a defendant biopharmaceutical company accused of infringing on two patents related to probiotic products for infants, holding that the relevant claims of the patents were anticipated by prior art references.
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January 09, 2025
Federal Circuit: PTAB Right To Find Some Claims Patentable In Equipment Row
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held that the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) did not err when finding that most of the claims in a patent describing a product for hanging construction equipment were unpatentable while some were not, rejecting an equipment manufacturer’s contention that all claims should have been found to be unpatentable.
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January 08, 2025
Split Federal Circuit Panel Reverses PTAB Finding Of Patent Validity
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A split Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel reversed a decision of the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) finding that multiple telecommunications companies failed to show that another company’s patent related to information encoding was unpatentable as obvious; the dissenting judge said that the panel should only have vacated PTAB’s holding.
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January 07, 2025
Color Of Hip Implants Functional, Not Trademarkable, Federal Circuit Says
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) was correct to cancel trademarks owned by an artificial hip parts manufacturer, a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, saying that the pink color of the relevant parts is a functional element referenced in the company’s now-expired patent.
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January 07, 2025
Federal Circuit Agrees: DNA Testing Patent Not Shown To Be Obvious
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) did not err when it held that a biopharmaceutical company failed to show that a patent held by another company related to in utero DNA testing is invalid as obvious, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Jan. 6.
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January 03, 2025
Judge Right To Find Oxycontin Patents Obvious, Federal Circuit Says
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in Delaware did not err in ruling that claims in a series of patents owned by Purdue Pharma LP and related entities directed at changes to the formulation of the company’s Oxycontin drug were invalid, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held.
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January 03, 2025
Patent Owner Appeals Unpatentability Finding For File Backup System
BOSTON — A company that owns a patent directed at a digital file backup process has appealed to the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a Massachusetts federal judge’s November ruling that the central claims of the patent are directed at unpatentable abstract ideas, thus rendering the patent invalid.
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December 20, 2024
Judge Finds Laser Patent Suit Sufficiently Pleaded, Denies Dismissal Motion
BOSTON — The owner of a laser patent adequately alleged infringement for the pleadings stage of litigation, a Massachusetts federal judge found, denying a defendant’s motion to dismiss the second infringement suit between the parties.
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December 20, 2024
Judge: Lighting Firm Didn’t Show Chandelier Infringed, Was Offered For Sale
SEATTLE — Granting an interior design firm’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, a Washington federal judge found that the owner of two design patents in a chandelier did not establish that an alleged knock-off of the lighting fixture infringed the patents or that the defendants engaged in unfair or deceptive behavior.
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December 20, 2024
Federal Circuit Affirms Infringement, Damages Findings In E-Cig Patent Fight
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A partially split panel of the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Dec. 19 said a federal judge in North Carolina was right to deny judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) to electronic cigarette entity R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. (RJR), affirming a jury’s award of more than $95 million against the company for infringing on another company’s pod-based tobacco vapor technology.
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December 19, 2024
Judge Rules Farmer Owes $600K For Infringing On Seed Patent
ST. LOUIS — A Missouri farmer will be required to pay more than $600,000 in damages to agricultural technology companies for patent infringement and breach of contract after a federal judge in the state granted summary judgment in the company’s favor on their claims that the farmer inappropriately recycled patented genetically modified seeds.
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December 19, 2024
Judge: Company’s Ticket Patents Invalid; Complaint Dismissed With Prejudice
LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge on Dec. 18 issued a final judgment holding that an electronic ticketing company’s patents are invalid, dismissing with prejudice patent infringement claims the company brought against Ticketmaster LLC and Live Nation Worldwide Inc.; the judge had granted the defendant companies’ motion to dismiss the claims in an in-chambers order in November because the patents were directed at patent-ineligible abstract ideas.
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December 19, 2024
Virginia Federal Judge Wrongly Held Patents Not Invalid, Federal Circuit Says
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A packaging machine company and a related entity’s patents were rendered invalid by an offer for sale in the United States, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held, reversing a Virginia federal judge’s finding of no invalidity in an infringement dispute with another packaging company that led to dueling appeals before the Federal Circuit.
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December 19, 2024
Federal Circuit Says Judge Wrongly Denied JMOL In Patent Fight
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Texas federal judge was wrong to deny judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) of no direct infringement to a defendant software company, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said Dec. 18, holding that the judge should have found that the alleged infringement could be attributed to the company’s merchants but not the company itself.
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December 17, 2024
Software Company Appeals Finding That Patent Is Directed At Abstract Idea
SAN FRANCISCO — A plaintiff software company appealed to the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a California federal judge’s finding that three patents it holds related to chart creation software claim patent ineligible subject matter, a day after the judge issued the order.
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December 17, 2024
PTAB Did Not Justify Combination Motive Finding In IPR, Federal Circuit Says
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Dec. 16 said the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) failed to properly explain one of its holdings at the conclusion of inter partes review (IPR) proceedings involving a patent involving data transmission; the panel vacated the PTAB’s finding that the patent’s claims were not obvious.
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December 16, 2024
Intel Didn’t Show Obviousness During Patent Review, Federal Circuit Says
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Affirming Patent Trial and Review Board (PTAB) findings issued after inter partes review (IPR), a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel agreed that the Intel Corp. failed to show that challenged claims in another company’s patent were invalid as obvious.
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December 12, 2024
Federal Circuit: No Error In Denying Novartis Injunction To Halt Generic Entresto
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel declined “to second guess” a trial court’s factual findings in denying a preliminary injunction to Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. to halt the release of a generic version of the drug Entresto, finding that there was no “definite and firm conviction that a mistake” occurred.
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December 12, 2024
Federal Circuit Affirms PTAB Claim Construction In Security Camera Patent Row
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) correctly held that multiple challenged claims in a company’s patent regarding a computer’s ability to detect individuals passing in front of a connected camera are unpatentable, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Dec. 11.
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December 12, 2024
Petitioner In Patent Safe Harbor Row Asks High Court To Distribute Case
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A medical device company that told the U.S. Supreme Court that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals inappropriately expanded a safe harbor found in the Patent Act waived its right to a 14-day waiting period after an upcoming requested filing from the respondent medical company in the case, arguing that the case should be distributed for the high court’s Jan. 10 conference.
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December 12, 2024
Federal Circuit Panel Mostly Upholds Inter Partes Review Invalidating LED Patents
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Although a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) erred in treating a figure in a prior art reference as being drawn to scale, thus necessitating a partial reversal and remand of an inter partes review (IPR) decision, the panel otherwise affirmed the board’s finding that two claims of a light emitting diode (LED) patent owned by the University of California were invalid as obvious in light of prior art.
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December 11, 2024
PTAB’s Unpatentability Finding In Mobile Tech Dispute Upheld By Federal Circuit
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) was correct to rule in favor of multiple communications technology companies that sought inter partes review (IPR) of a now-expired mobile communications patent, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Dec. 10; the panel affirmed PTAB’s finding that the challenged claims were unpatentable as obvious.
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December 10, 2024
Federal Circuit Affirms Construction Of ‘Merchants’ Claim In Patent Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Delaware federal judge did not err when holding that the claim term “merchants” should be limited only to those who sell goods, not services, in a patent dispute involving e-commerce platforms, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held, affirming the judge’s finding of noninfringement.
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December 10, 2024
No Infringement Of Rosacea Medication Patent, Federal Circuit Agrees
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said that a Third Circuit judge overseeing district court proceedings in Delaware was correct to hold that a defendant biopharmaceutical company’s abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) did not infringe the plaintiff company’s patents on medications for the skin condition called rosacea.
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December 09, 2024
Federal Circuit Upholds Sanctions In Stun Gun Design Patent Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in Arkansas reasonably awarded sanctions against a plaintiff company and its attorney in a patent infringement dispute involving a design patent for electrodes for stun guns, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Dec. 6, saying that the district court did not err when holding that the company’s past history of filing meritless suits against other entities shows a pattern of bad faith.