Federal Circuit: test for obviousness of structurally similar compounds is unchanged post-KSR At the Federal Circuit, it appears that everything old is new again. In a case applying the new obviousness framework from KSR to structurally similar chemical compounds, the court affirmed a district court decision that claimed compounds would not have been obvious in light of the prior art. The court lauded the district court's "extensive […] Continue Reading →
Ninth Circuit: No confusion likely between competing energy drinks, preliminary injunction vacated In a decision today, the Ninth Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit over the trade dress of two competing energy drinks. The court held the district court's conclusion that success was likely on the merits was clearly erroneous, largely because of the dissimilarity of the two trade dresses. Hansen produces the Monster line […] Continue Reading →
“Attorney argument” and late disclosure not enough to support inequitable conduct finding The Federal Circuit issued a ruling yesterday that provides some guidance on the issues of indefiniteness and inequitable conduct. The court held that the term "near" was sufficiently definite for identifying the location of an incision in veterinary surgery, because the meaning could be adduced from the intrinsic evidence. Further, the court held that as […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit approves MPEP guidelines for written description rejections The Federal Circuit addressed the standard applied by the USPTO for establishing a prima facie case of failure to meet the written description requirement in Hyatt v. Dudas today. The court found that compliance with MPEP § 2163.04(I)(B), by pointing out the nonexistence of support in the specification and identifying the claim limitation(s) at issue, […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit reverses claim construction and noninfringement finding In a claim construction appeal, the Federal Circuit found that the doctrine of claim differentiation, combined with statements made in a petition to make special, led to a broader claim construction than that offered by the district court. Also, there was no unequivocal disclaimer of the broader claim scope during prosecution of either the patent-in-suit […] Continue Reading →
Sixth Circuit affirms copyright infringement award against karaoke disc maker In a decision today, the Sixth Circuit affirmed an award of $806,000 in statutory damages plus attorney fees in a copyright case. The case was brought by a copyright holder against a manufacturer of karaoke discs incorporating the compositions to which the plaintiffs held the copyright. The court upheld the award and finding of willful […] Continue Reading →
Eleventh Circuit: copyright in compilations of used boat listings infringed In a decision yesterday, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the finding of copyright infringement of a factual compilation, specifically a compilation of listings of used boats for sale. Most notably, the court held that the proper standard for infringement was the "substantially similar" test, rather than the "virtually identical" test sometimes used for factual compilations (most […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit: less distinctive portions of a mark still considered in likelihood of confusion In a case decided today, the Federal Circuit reversed the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's denial of an opposition to registration of a trademark. Specifically, the court rejected the Board's finding that there was no likelihood of confusion because the Board improperly considered an element present in both marks a "weak component" of the competing […] Continue Reading →
Attorney’s exclusion from USPTO practice based on ties to invention promotion firm affirmed Unsuspecting inventors aren't the only ones hurt by fraudulent invention promotion firms. As a case decided today by the Federal Circuit shows, the attorneys they employ can also be harmed. Of course, in this case, the attorney isn't a very sympathetic figure. He was on the payroll of an invention promotion firm in the 1990s, […] Continue Reading →
200 companies express further concerns over Patent Reform Act of 2007 The hits just keep on coming for the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (H.R. 1908 and S. 1145). Over the past two weeks, Chief Judge Paul Michel of the Federal Circuit sent two letters criticizing portions of the Act. Before that, a group of Senators noted their concerns with the Act. Just after the Act […] Continue Reading →