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

Mealey's Patents

December 03, 2024
Mixed Results On Dueling Summary Judgment Motions In LED Patent Suit

PHOENIX — A federal judge in Arizona granted and denied aspects of dueling motions for summary judgment in a patent infringement dispute involving heat management technologies for LED lighting systems, handing a mixed result to the plaintiff and defendant companies.
November 27, 2024
Judge: Some Claims In DNA Patent Dispute Based On Unpatentable Natural Laws

BOSTON — A federal judge in Massachusetts dismissed some aspects of a patent infringement suit involving technologies that detect changes in genetics, agreeing with a defendant biopharmaceutical company that some of the asserted claims in the plaintiff companies’ patents were patent ineligible because they were directed at a naturally occurring process.
November 27, 2024
Judge Finds Generic Drug Maker Infringed 2 Infection Treatment Patents

CHICAGO — In a lengthy and thorough ruling, an Illinois judge ruled that an abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) for a generic version of a bacterial infection treatment infringed two patents owned by a New Jersey biopharmaceutical firm directly and contributorily.
November 26, 2024
Judge: Patent Claims In Immunotherapy Row Survive Summary Judgment

WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal judge in Delaware almost entirely denied a summary judgment motion filed by a defendant biopharmaceutical company, holding that a reasonable jury could find that the company had infringed upon the plaintiff company’s patented immunotherapy regimen used in treating cancer.
November 26, 2024
Judge: Company’s Patent On File Backup System Too Abstract To Hold Up

BOSTON — Finding that the central claims of the relevant patent are directed at an unpatentable abstract idea, a Massachusetts federal judge granted a defendant software company’s motion to dismiss a patent infringement complaint brought against it by a patent holder that claimed the company copied its invention of a digital file backup process.
November 26, 2024
Vaginal Remodeling Device Patent Dispute Transferred To Massachusetts

LOS ANGELES — Because the defendant in a patent infringement dispute is based in Massachusetts, a California federal judge determined that the other state would be a better venue to resolve the suit centering on vaginal remodeling devices because, among other things, it is where most of the pertinent business records, evidence and witnesses are located.
November 25, 2024
Federal Circuit Agrees: Electronic Pipe Patent Anticipated By Prior Art

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Nov. 22 affirmed a finding from the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) in an inter partes review (IPR) brought by tobacco company Philip Morris Products SA and its American subsidiary, agreeing with the PTAB’s holding that multiple claims in a patent on an electronic smoking pipe product were patent ineligible for being anticipated by prior art.
November 22, 2024
No Infringement Of Patent By Pet Camera Maker, Federal Circuit Agrees

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Nov. 21 found that a federal judge in Washington correctly granted summary judgment in a patent dispute over devices that allow pet owners to remotely give treats to their furry friends, agreeing with the judge that there was no genuine dispute of material fact.
November 22, 2024
TikTok Not Entitled To Attorney Fees In Digital Media Patent Infringement Suit

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Despite TikTok Inc. being the prevailing party and being granted judgment on the pleadings in a patent infringement suit over video clip storytelling, a California federal magistrate judge found that the case was not exceptional, leading her to deny the social media company’s motion for attorney fees of almost $5 million.
November 21, 2024
Federal Circuit Agrees Patent Holder Didn’t Show Injuries From Twitter

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel granted a motion for summary affirmance from the company formerly known as Twitter Inc., agreeing with a Texas federal judge that a patent holder that inherited patents regarding online videos from a predecessor company failed to show how it as the current patent holder was harmed by Twitter; the finding doomed the patent holder’s request for a preliminary injunction that was filed nearly eight years after the suit was initially brought.
November 21, 2024
Parties Can’t Dismiss Patent Appeal After Opinion Was Issued, Federal Circuit Says

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Despite the parties indicating that they had agreed to a settlement after the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued an opinion vacating an order from the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) in a patent infringement dispute over network security features, the Federal Circuit denied the parties’ voluntary motions to dismiss, saying that granting them at the current stage would require the modification or total vacatur of the opinion.
November 19, 2024
Judge Tosses Patent Suit Against Google Over Ineligible HVAC Claims

OAKLAND, Calif. — A federal judge in California on Nov. 18 granted Google LLC’s motion to dismiss a patent infringement suit brought against it by a technology company over smart thermostat technology, holding that the company’s patent is directed at unpatentable abstract ideas.
November 19, 2024
Federal Circuit: No Transfer Between Districts Of Smartwatch Patent Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel rejected a defendant company’s petition for a writ of mandamus to force a Texas federal judge to transfer a patent infringement case involving smartwatches to a California federal court.
November 18, 2024
Supreme Court Won’t Take 2nd Pass At Patent Dispute With Government Over Mail

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Denying a patent holding company’s petition for a writ of certiorari on Nov. 18, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that it would not again hear a dispute between the company and the U.S. government over the government’s alleged infringement of the company’s patent on a technology system for more easily sorting return mail.
November 15, 2024
Split Judgment Issued On Infringement, Invalidity Of Wastewater Treatment Patent

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Ruling on both parties’ summary judgment motions in a four-year-old patent infringement suit, a Connecticut federal judge found that the plaintiff established infringement of its patent related to wastewater treatment, but mixed findings on invalidity based on anticipation and obviousness related to prior art led to partial judgment denials for both parties.
November 14, 2024
Judge Issues Preliminary Injunction Targeting Online Patent Infringers

MIAMI — A company that owns a collection of health and beauty patents saw a Florida federal judge shut down the websites and freeze the assets of parties selling counterfeit, infringing products online as the judge granted the plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction.
November 14, 2024
Federal Circuit Affirms Denial Of Transfer Of Patent Fight From Texas To New York

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Nov. 13 denied a defendant electronics company’s petition for a writ of mandamus directing a federal judge in Texas to transfer a patent infringement suit to a New York federal court; the panel agreed with the Texas judge that practical considerations favor keeping the case there.
November 12, 2024
Judge: Tech Company Fails To Support Patent, Antitrust Claims Against Google

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida dismissed most of a web development company’s suit against Google LLC, holding that the company failed to substantiate both its antitrust claims and patent infringement claim related to Google’s reverse phone number lookup technology.
November 12, 2024
Wireless Tech Firm Has Standing To Sue AT&T, Others In Patent Disputes

MARSHALL, Texas — A plaintiff that claims a license in two cellular technology patents and ownership of a third has sufficiently established that it has standing to pursue a consolidated patent infringement suit against AT&T Mobility LLC, T-Mobile US Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., a Texas federal judge ruled as he adopted four reports and recommendations issued by a magistrate judge.
November 11, 2024
Judge: No Stay In Patent Dispute Over Hotel Room Key Smart Phone App

MARSHALL, Texas — A federal judge in Texas on Nov. 8 denied a defendant hotel chain company’s motion to stay a patent infringement case involving room key technology while a Virginia federal judge considers a related patent infringement case, holding that most applicable factors weigh against granting the stay.
November 11, 2024
Federal Circuit Affirms 2 PTAB Decisions Invalidating Network Threat Patents

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Issuing rulings in two patent infringement disputes between the same parties pertaining to the same technology, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that in both cases the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) correctly concluded, after conducting inter partes reviews (IPRs), that the patents in suit were invalid as obvious in light of prior art.
November 11, 2024
Judge: Patent Holder’s Patent Too Abstract To Be Protectible; Complaint Tossed

PHOENIX — A federal judge in Arizona dismissed a patent holding company’s infringement claims against a sporting good company over its golf swing measurement device, agreeing with the defendant company that the claims contained within the patent are too abstract to be protectible.
November 08, 2024
Judge: Counterclaims From Nokia In Patent Dispute Exceed Its Role As Intervener

MARSHALL, Texas — A federal judge in Texas dismissed counterclaims brought by Nokia of America Corp. in a patent infringement suit in which it intervened; the judge said Nokia’s counterclaims exceeded Nokia’s stated intention only to assist in defending AT&T Corp. and several affiliated entities in the complaint.
November 07, 2024
Judge: Drone Seller Didn’t Show Patent Claims Were Baseless For Restraining Order

SEATTLE — A federal judge in Washington denied a request from a plaintiff company for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against defendant companies it said is bringing takedown actions against it in bad faith for alleged patent infringement; the judge said that the evidentiary record is still too thin to determine whether the defendant companies were acting in good faith.
November 06, 2024
Federal Judge: No Jury Would Find Infringement In Patent Dispute Over Chairs

PITTSBURGH — A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Nov. 5 dismissed with prejudice a patent infringement suit involving two furniture companies, holding that no reasonable jury could find that the defendant company infringed on the plaintiff company’s patents related to chair designs.