Finding of induced infringement reversed: insufficient evidence of direct infringement Today, the Federal Circuit held that hypothetical instances of direct infringement are not enough to establish that a party induced direct infringement of a patent. Instead, there must be evidence of instances of actual infringement in order to establish infringement was induced if there are both infringing and non-infringing ways to operate a device. Because […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit makes previous nonprecedential obviousness opinion precedential Today the Federal Circuit decided to change the status of Daiichi Sankyo Co. v. Apotex, Inc. (previously blogged about here), from nonprecedential to precedential. This is noteworthy because this was one of the first obviousness cases decided by the Federal Circuit after KSR, and dealt specifically with one of the Graham factors: the level of […] Continue Reading →
Claim construction and noninfringement finding affirmed; prosecution history estoppel bars DOE In a decision today, the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court's grant of summary judgment of noninfringement of a patent relating to a "gutter guard" designed to keep debris out of gutters. The court found the district court's claim construction correct, as it properly considered dictionary definitions when the specification provided no additional guidance on […] Continue Reading →
The Patent Reform Act of 2007: What’s changed in the final House version? With the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (H.R. 1908) passing the House on Friday, it's about time to take another look at the Act and see what's different between the current version and the version as introduced back in April. Click below for the analysis. First to file (Section 3) This section is essentially unchanged, […] Continue Reading →
Sponsors of the Patent Reform Act of 2007 playing hardball? According to reports, several of the key opponents of the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (H.R. 1908) withdrew their opposition to the bill before the House vote last Friday. Among those reportedly withdrawing their opposition include the AFL-CIO, Motorola, and the Association of American Universities, among others. Why did they withdraw their opposition? It sounds […] Continue Reading →
Purified stereoisomer of compound in known mixture obvious in light of expected potency In a decision today, the Federal Circuit reversed a district court's pre-KSR decision of nonobviousness. The claims were directed toward a particular isomer of a compound that was "substantially free" of other isomers. The prior art included a mixture that included the claimed isomer as well as a different isomer. The court found the claims […] Continue Reading →
Final rules published regarding PCT changes for restoration of priority, obvious changes, search fee The USPTO has published final rules relating to PCT applications. The revised rules deal with restoration of priority when unintentionally not claimed until after the deadline, correction of obvious errors or omissions, and increasing the PCT search fee to $1,800. To read the full notice, click here. Continue Reading →
House Passes Patent Reform Act of 2007 As expected, the House this afternoon passed its version of the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (H.R. 1908). The vote was 220-175, with 37 not voting. Now the lobbying action will move to the Senate. Continue Reading →
“Outer surface” cannot encompass interior surface based on statements made in prosecution history The Federal Circuit yesterday reversed a district court's claim construction and its corresponding determination of literal infringement. The court found that the prosecution history of the patents negated the district court's claim construction, and that, properly construed, there could be no literal infringement.The term at issue was the "outer surface" of a drive collar. The […] Continue Reading →
Full scope of claims must be enabled to meet enablement requirement The Federal Circuit yesterday affirmed a district court's holding of invalidity based on lack of enablement. At issue was a claim that encompassed two different types of structures for side-impact sensing in motor vehicles, a mechanical sensor and an electronic sensor. The court noted that the full scope of a claim must be enabled in […] Continue Reading →