Seventh Circuit: no evidence of use of “Stealth” mark, cancellation affirmed In a ruling today, the Seventh Circuit affirmed the cancellation of one of Leo Stoller's many "STEALTH" registrations (owned by one of his companies) for lack of use. The registration in question for "baseball bats, softball bats, and t-ball bats," was the basis for a suit brought against baseball hall of famer George Brett and […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit affirms findings of patent and copyright noninfringement In a recent decision the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court's grant of summary judgment of noninfringement on one count of patent infringement and two counts of copyright infringement. The Federal Circuit also upheld the district court's denial of the plaintiff's Rule 60(b) motion seeking vacatur of the summary judgments. More details of Hutchins v. […] Continue Reading →
Examples in specification, file history implicitly redefine claim term; infringement affirmed In a second case before the Federal Circuit in just over a month, competing avionics manufacturers Honeywell and Universal Avionics Systems were parties to a decision, this time with Honeywell coming out on top. The court affirmed the district court's claim construction of several terms in Honeywell's patent, which resulted in the court affirming the […] Continue Reading →
Equivalent can be “foreseeable” and thus barred under Festo even when equivalence unknown in the art Today, the Federal Circuit rendered the latest decision in the nearly 20 year saga of Festo. The court refined the rules set forth by the Supreme Court in its Festo decision, specifically when an equivalent is unforeseeable, and thus not barred by prosecution history estoppel. The majority of the panel held that: an alternative is […] Continue Reading →
Supreme Court: vertical retail price maintenance no longer per se violation of antitrust law Overruling a nearly century old decision, the Supreme Court Thursday held that a manufacturer may, in some instances, enter into a vertical agreement with its retailers to set minimum retail prices for the manufacturer's goods. The court overruled the venerable decision in Dr. Miles Medical Co. v. John D. Park & Sons Co., 220 U.S. […] Continue Reading →