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

Mealey's Patents

September 06, 2024
Seat Cushion Patent Claims Dismissed In Calif. Federal Court For Improper Venue

SAN DIEGO — California federal court is not the proper venue for patent infringement claims relating to inflatable seat cushions because the company allegedly infringing on the patents is not located in California and has no regular established placed of business in the state, a California federal judge found in granting the company’s motion to dismiss in part.
September 05, 2024
Federal Circuit Says Television Programming Guide Patent Claims Are Ineligible

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Patent claims relating to television programming guides for video-on-demand systems are not patent eligible because they are directed to the abstract idea of analyzing, organizing and displaying data and do nothing to transform the abstract idea into something more, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming a federal trial court’s judgment.
September 04, 2024
Texas Federal Judge Dismisses Some Fastener Patent Claims Without Prejudice

DALLAS — The assignee of three patents that disclose fastener products for use in construction failed to support its willful patent infringement and induced patent infringement claims against a competitor with sufficient factual allegations, a Texas federal judge found in granting the competitor’s motion to dismiss in part without prejudice.
September 03, 2024
Federal Judge Orders Patent Attorneys To Show Why They Shouldn’t Be Sanctioned

SAN FRANCISCO — Three patent attorneys who have engaged in potential litigation misconduct were ordered by a California federal judge to show cause why they should not be sanctioned for, among other things, failing to seek pro hac vice status, failing to diligently investigate their clients’ claims before filing complaints and failing to sign court filings.
August 20, 2024
COMMENTARY: You Can’t Spell Claim Construction Without AI

By Jonah Mitchell and Charlie Rieder
August 29, 2024
Wisconsin Federal Judge Dismisses Bulk Of Claims In Dispute Over Gardening Tools

MADISON, Wisc. — The owner of two design patents that describe ornamental gardening tools is not entitled to summary judgment on its patent infringement claims because it failed to show that allegedly infringing products made by a competitor were sufficiently similar to its products, a Wisconsin federal judge found in disposing of motions for summary judgment filed by both parties.
August 28, 2024
Dispute Over FCA Public Disclosure Bar Distributed For Conference In Supreme Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Aug. 28 distributed for conference a petition for certiorari filed by pharmaceutical companies seeking review of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that the public disclosure bar was not triggered in a case where it reversed a district court’s dismissal of a suit accusing the companies of violating the False Claims Act (FCA) by artificially inflating drug prices.
August 28, 2024
PTAB Panel Affirms Rejection Of Computer Tomography Scanner Application

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patent examiner did not err in rejecting a patent application that disclosed a particularly configured computer tomography (CT) scanner because the examiner adequately showed that the claims can be produced by combining several components of prior art, a Patent Trial and Appeal Board held in affirming the examiner’s findings on Aug. 27.
August 27, 2024
Texas Federal Judge Grants And Denies Motions To Dismiss In Data Patent Dispute

WACO, Texas — In two separate orders filed Aug. 26, a Texas federal judge denied a motion to dismiss a counterclaim for patent invalidity and granted in part a motion to dismiss allegations of willful infringement in a patent infringement case concerning methods, systems and computer program products for processing data.
August 27, 2024
PTAB Panel Affirms Patent Examiner’s Rejection Of Chewing Gum Patents

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patent examiner did not err in rejecting an application for patent claims describing a process for reducing the stickiness of a chewing gum core composition because the claims were obvious in light of prior art, a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) panel found in affirming the examiner’s findings.
August 27, 2024
Federal Circuit: Trial Court Wrongly Analyzed Attorney Fees Motion In Patent Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal district court erred in analyzing whether several telecommunications companies that prevailed against patent infringement claims were entitled to attorney fees because it erroneously gave weight to several “red flags” that supposedly made the case exceptional, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held in vacating the trial court’s order granting the companies’ motion for attorney fees.
August 23, 2024
In Exercise Device Patent Row, Federal Circuit Affirms Claim Construction Decision

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal trial court correctly found that a claim within a patent for a personal athletic performance monitor device was indefinite for lack of corresponding structure because the patent’s specification failed to disclose an algorithm for computing athletic performance feedback data, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming the lower court’s judgment in part.
August 22, 2024
In High Court, PTO Director Says Patent Term Adjustment Does Not Affect Validity

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In her Aug. 21 brief in response to a petition for writ of certiorari filed by a tech firm in the U.S. Supreme Court, the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) argues that a patent that had its expiration date extended under patent term adjustment (PTA) due to application delays caused by the PTO is still susceptible to findings of obviousness and invalidity.
August 22, 2024
Mobile User Interface Patent Claim Is Not Indefinite, Federal Circuit Holds

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal trial court erred in finding that the representative claim of a mobile user interface patent was indefinite because the language of the claim and its prosecution history show that the claim can be properly constructed in a way that fits the patent, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in reversing and remanding the trial court’s judgment.
August 22, 2024
Illinois Federal Judge Declines To Vacate $525M Jury Award In Tech Patent Dispute

CHICAGO — A jury’s award of $525 million for patent infringement claims involving information storage and retrieval patents was supported by sufficient evidence and should not be vacated, an Illinois federal judge found in denying Amazon’s motion for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) and its motion for a new trial.
August 22, 2024
Enactment Of AIA Did Not Change The On-Sale Bar, Federal Circuit Holds

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congress did not intend to change the long-established interpretation of the on-sale bar by enacting the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) because textual changes brought on with the enactment of the AIA text did not materially affect the provision, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming a decision from the U.S. International Trade Commission concerning artificial sweetener patents.
August 20, 2024
Federal Circuit Dismisses Hydrogenated Silicon Patent Appeal For Lack Of Standing

WASHINGTON, D.C. — There is no live case or controversy regarding hydrogenated silicon patent infringement claims because the patent owner dismissed its claims with prejudice, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in dismissing an appeal of a final written inter partes review decision issued by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
August 20, 2024
Nike’s Shoe Patent Claims Against New Balance Will Continue In Mass. Federal Court

BOSTON — New Balance failed to show that Nike’s factual allegations contradicted New Balance’s interpretation of three shoe patents it allegedly infringed by manufacturing and selling its own shoes, a Massachusetts federal judge found in denying New Balance’s partial motion to dismiss.
August 19, 2024
Sale Of Invention Was Not ‘Public Disclosure,’ Federal Circuit Says In Patent Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The private sale of a product that contained the subject matter of a patent application that was filed several days later does not mean the application itself cannot be considered prior art because the sale did not result in the public disclosure of the inventive subject matter, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) finding that a patent for a port apparatus used with electronic devices was obvious in light of the application.
August 16, 2024
Federal Circuit Vacates Preliminary Injunction In E-Cigarette Trademark Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in Florida was wrong to issue a preliminary injunction against a Chinese e-cigarette manufacturer and its American wholesalers in a trademark and patent dispute brought by an American e-cigarette maker, a panel of judges in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, saying that the judge did not adequately consider the Chinese company’s argument that the American manufacturer did not have a valid claim to the contested mark because it did not seek approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its product.
August 16, 2024
Fla. Federal Judge: Patent Commission Case Belongs In Courts Of England And Wales

MIAMI — A dispute over whether a consulting firm is entitled to an anticipated judgment allegedly arising from the firm’s efforts to monetize two service control technology permits must be heard in the courts of England and Wales because the brokerage agreement between the firm and the patent owners contains a forum-selection clause selecting that forum, a Florida federal judge found in granting the owner’s motion to dismiss.
August 15, 2024
Owner Of Charging Bag Patent Fails To Secure Default Judgment In N.Y. Federal Court

BUFFALO — The owner of a patent that describes a bag or luggage that has a USB charging connector is not entitled to default judgment on the claim of patent infringement it brought against a competitor because the owner failed to attach a copy of its patent to its motion for default judgment, a New York federal judge found in denying the motion without prejudice.
August 14, 2024
Patent Attorney Urges High Court To Decline Review Of 9th Circuit FCA Reversal

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patent attorney who was a district court’s qui tam plaintiff in a suit accusing pharmaceutical companies of violating the False Claims Act (FCA) by artificially inflating drug prices urges the U.S. Supreme Court to decline review of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling reversing the district court’s dismissal, arguing that the Ninth Circuit correctly “held that the public disclosures did not collectively disclose the fraud.”
August 14, 2024
Federal Judge Adopts Recommendation, Says Ignition Mitigation Patents Are Invalid

MIAMI — In adopting a federal magistrate judge’s report and recommendation, a Florida federal judge agreed that three patents that form a method and system of fuel tank mitigation were invalid under the on-sale bar because the inventor made three commercial offers for sale of the patented method before applying for patent protection.
August 13, 2024
PTO Director’s Former Role In Case Didn’t Affect Due Process Rights, Panel Says

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The owner of three computer data patents was not deprived of its due process rights when the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) instituted inter partes review after opposing counsel in a dispute over the patents was nominated and appointed as director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) because the director properly recused herself from the case and the administrative law judges of the PTAB had no pecuniary interest in agreeing with the arguments she formerly presented before them, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming three final written decisions from the PTAB.