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Mealey's Patents

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • December 06, 2024

    Infringement Claims Over Tank Level Design Patent Survive Dismissal

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The defendant in a patent infringement lawsuit saw its motion to dismiss partly granted by a Florida federal judge, who found that a design patent holder did not plausibly allege false advertising, deceptive trade practices or false marking claims related to ornamental components of a tank monitoring system.

  • December 06, 2024

    Some Claims Obvious In Circuit Package Patent Row, Federal Circuit Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a patent infringement dispute between manufacturers of semiconductors, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Dec. 5 affirmed findings from the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that some claims in the relevant patents are ineligible as obvious while other claims are patent eligible, handing mixed results to both the appellant and cross-appellant companies.

  • December 06, 2024

    Drug Patent Holder Breached Covenant Not To Sue From Earlier Infringement Suit

    WILMINGTON, Del. — In the latest chapter in an long-running dispute over the pharmaceutical colchicine, a Delaware federal judge found that a patent owner’s infringement suit against the maker of a generic version of the drug breached a covenant not to sue that was contained in an agreement that resolved a previous lawsuit between the two companies.

  • December 06, 2024

    Federal Circuit: No Infringement By Meta Of Data Storage Patent

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A New York federal judge did not err in granting summary judgment in a patent dispute between social media company Meta Platforms Inc. and a company that accused it of infringing patents related to methods of storing data chronologically, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said, affirming the judge’s holding that the evidence did not show that Meta’s product satisfied the patents’ claim limitations.

  • December 05, 2024

    Federal Circuit Partly Affirms, Partly Reverses PTAB Patentability Findings

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Dec. 4 said the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) was correct to hold that many of claims in a series of patents owned by a biopharmaceutical company related to the process of separating components from a mixture are unpatentable as obvious, but the panel reversed the PTAB’s findings that some of the claims were not unpatentable.

  • December 04, 2024

    Federal Circuit Upholds PTAB Invalidity Finding In Telecommunications Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) was correct to hold that a telecommunications company’s patent on a system that manages telecommunication networks is anticipated by prior art and is thus invalid, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, despite a defendant entity settling with the plaintiff company while the case was before the appellate panel.

  • December 04, 2024

    Deal In Progress Reported In Coverage Row Over Loss Of Patent Litigation Counsel

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Without providing details, the parties in a coverage dispute over loss of patent litigation counsel filed a notice in Tennessee federal court “that they have reached a settlement in principle of all matters in dispute.”