Patent Reform Act of 2007: moving forward? Today the House Judiciary Committee sent the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (H.R. 1908 and S. 1145) out of committee to the full House of Representatives for consideration. The amended version (found here, as it has not been updated on the Library of Congress site yet). The controversial damages apportionment provisions are still present in […] Continue Reading →
Determination of level of ordinary skill in the art erroneous, leads to finding of obviousness In a nonprecedential ruling today, the Federal Circuit held that the district court incorrectly determined the level of ordinary skill in the art, and that when the level of skill was determined correctly, the invention was obvious based on a prior art reference that was directed toward those having greater skill than the district court […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit affirms dismissal of opposition proceeding for lack of standing In another nonprecediential ruling today, the Federal Circuit affirmed the TTAB's dismissal of an opposition filed against registration of the Dykes on Bikes mark. There are two requirements to have standing to file an opposition with the TTAB. The would-be opposer must have "both a real interest in the proceedings and a reasonable basis for […] Continue Reading →
Office of Management and Budget approves USPTO’s new continuation rules The Office of Management and Budget has approved the two new rules promulgated by the USPTO relating to continuation applications and examination of claims. Apparently the meetings with various groups did not convince the OMB that the rules were inconsistent with the USPTO's regulatory authority. The rules are rumored to be different than those originally […] Continue Reading →
Verifying what was already suspected to be the case “does not give rise to a patentable invention” The Federal Circuit yesterday issued a split opinion dealing with contributory infringement and post-KSR obviousness. The case involved two patents regarding hematopoietic stem cells collected from blood in the umbilical cord after the birth of a child. Such cells have shown promise in the treatment of blood-related disorders. The Federal Circuit held that the patents […] Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →