Kimberly Moore and fellow jurists from Federal Circuit Court of Appeals continue their determined efforts to oust Judge Pauline Newman, the oldest sitting judge in the nation. Despite a hefty caseload of patent litigation and veterans benefits issues, they are focused on preventing Newman from presiding over—and likely dissenting from—their cases. Bloomberg Law reports that…
In the case of Corephotonics, Ltd. v. Apple Inc., a significant development unfolded when the Federal Circuit partially approved Apple’s victory before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). The case involved Apple’s invalidation of numerous patents owned by Corephotonics. These patents, distinguished as U.S. Patent Nos. 9,661,233, 10,230,898, 10,326,942, and 10,356,332, referred to as…
In a significant legal development reported week ending October 20, 2023, an infringement case capturing widespread attention in the patent law sector was advanced in Cyntec Co. v. Chilisin Electronics Corp., et al., No. 2022-1873 (Fed. Cir. (N.D. Cal.) Oct. 16, 2023). The case, outlined in an article on JD Supra, recounts the dispute in…
In a recent legal ruling, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a district court’s claim construction and jury instructions, but notably reversed a premature judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) on the grounds of obviousness and due to an imprecise damages award. This was the case of Cyntec Company, Ltd….
Genentech, Inc., Hoffmann-LaRoche, Inc., and Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (collectively, “Genentech”) filed a joint stipulation of dismissal in their BPCIA litigation against Biogen MA Inc. and Bio-Thera Solutions, Ltd., putting an end to a complex legal dispute that began in July 2023. The case was filed in the District of Massachusetts with Genentech alleging that…
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a policy statement indicating its intent to rigorously investigate improper listings in the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Orange Book, a public record of approved drugs with therapeutic equivalence evaluations. In a move aimed at maintaining the integrity of the Orange Book, the FTC has warned drug…
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) was instated with the aim of protecting US domestic industries from instances of unfair competition from international businesses, often through its ‘unfair import’ or Section 337 evaluations. These investigations have, for several decades, been utilised as a weapon for US businesses in the battle against exploitative trade practices. However,…
In a significant development in the world of patent law, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently announced a crucial transformation in its operations. The agency’s news briefing in October 2023 shared that the Patent Center system is set to replace the EFS-Web system and the Private Patent Application Information Retrieval (Private PAIR) tool….
Recently, the Federal Circuit tested the weight of the question: “How would an ordinary engineer respond to this challenge?” And found that the reasonable expectation of success might not be quite so intimidating after all. This topic, as once might imagine, has generated considerable discussion among legal professionals. No, we are not referring to the…
Stakeholders who have grown used to having an additional ten days to respond to a communication from the European Patent Office (EPO) will very soon need to update their scheduling strategies. Documents dated on or after November 1, 2023, will bring about a significant change. The EPO is doing away with its “10-day rule”, which…
In almost five decades since its inception, the Panduit test, designed to determine lost profits in patent cases, has been both lauded for its consistency and criticized for its potential lack of flexibility. Recently, a notable legal decision in a patent case has sparked renewed interest in the relevance of the Panduit test’s application, thus…
In the latest episode of Troutman Pepper’s Intellectual Property and Health Sciences practice groups’ podcast series, the focus is on the US Patent Office (USPTO) and the conspicuous role the USPTO director has been assuming in inter partes and post-grant review proceedings. The meta description of the podcast indicates the presence of significant events and…
In the unfolding legal saga, In Re: Cellect, LLC No. 2022-1293 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 28, 2023), a crucial case illuminates an area of Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) and its interaction with the interesting issue of obviousness-type double patenting (ODP). This case has become critical for corporations and legal professionals specializing in Intellectual Property (IP). According…
In recent legal news, an important decision in the Eighth Circuit court has thrown light on the issue of conflict of interest during litigation representation. The court successfully upheld a previous lower court’s ruling which denied a law firm’s appeal to disqualify an expert witness in a suit. The suit had alleged that the law…
In a recent development in federal court, the case, Cyntec Company, Ltd. v. Chilisin Electronics Corp., Appeal No. 2022-1873 was reviewed by the Federal Circuit on October 16, 2023. The events of this week saw the Federal Circuit reverse and remand a California district court’s judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) which stated that…
In a notable decision, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has dismissed a patent owner’s claim that a coherence of activities hinting at an undercover plan was sufficient to conclude that a petitioner’s inter partes review (IPR) petition should be rejected as it failed to name a time-barred real party-in-interest (RPI). The surprising conclusion…
The Federal Circuit has been delving deeper into the realm of indefiniteness in Inter Partes Reviews (IPRs). A particular focus is on means-plus-function claim elements which present a complicated issue in an IPR as they are claim elements drafted under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) (or its predecessor paragraph 6), expressing an element of a combination as…
For nearly half a century, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office exercised authority that when a trademark registrant files a fraudulent declaration under Section 15 of the Lanham Act, in an effort to make its registration incontestable, that registration would be immediately cancelled in its entirety. This…
A recently published joint study by the European Patent Office (EPO) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) reveals the powerful role that intellectual property (IP) rights, particularly patents and trademarks, can play in securing crucial funding for startups. This study serves as a reminder to corporations and law firms alike on the importance…
In July, NetDocuments commenced a trial launch of its AI-based product, PatternBuilder MAX. This generative AI tool aspires to facilitate firms in creating customized AI automation that caters to their specific practice areas, offering a glimpse into the transformative potential of AI in streamlining operations for legal firms. This product was intended as the forebear…
In the race for AI patents, China has widened its lead over the United States, according to recent data published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). As per the data reviewed, Chinese institutions filed for a total of 29,853 AI-related patents in 2022. This represents an increase from the previous year’s 29,000 filings and…
On October 10, 2023, the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) set forth a consolidated decision in cases G1/22 and G2/22, which served to clarify a widely contested issue concerning the validity of a priority claim at the EPO. According to the ruling, an applicant claiming priority is endowed with the…
In a recent legal update, a federal judge in Maine rejected a motion to dismiss a patent infringement suit against Rejuva Fresh and its owner, Polly Jacobs. The case, initiated by BTL Industries Inc., concerns the allegedly unauthorised use of electromagnetic technology in noninvasive aesthetic body-contouring devices. The court found that a letter sent by…
The United Patent Court (UPC) Court of Appeal on 16th October 2023 declared their first-ever decision, addressing two noteworthy procedural issues that arise when a Statement of Claim is executed without the referred documents, or “annexes”. This landmark decision was announced by global law firm Allen & Overy LLP. The UPC Court of Appeal’s decision…
In a notable legal dispute in the District of Delaware, a ruling was made that validated a jury award based on lost profits in a two-product market for bamboo decking. This case underscores the potential nuances of calculating damages in markets consisting of merely a few players. In the absence of non-infringing alternatives, evidence may…